Two people have been charged in connection with a burglary in Hewlett Neck on Long Island, in a case that police say involved a group moving around on stolen vehicles. The arrests came after officers say they caught the group in the act of searching a parked car at a residence, turning what might have looked like a quiet night in the neighbourhood into an active crime scene.
According to police, Chanel Butcher, Quadir Ingram and two juvenile girls were found searching a parked car at a home on Smith Lane. The presence of multiple people going through a vehicle at a private residence drew the attention of authorities, who moved in and ultimately took members of the group into custody as part of the investigation into the burglary.
What helped frame the case was how the group had arrived. Police say they were riding three scooters and a bicycle, and that all of those vehicles had been reported stolen. The detail added a second layer to the allegations, suggesting the suspects were not only accused of targeting the car at the home but had also been using property taken from others to get around.
The arrest itself did not go smoothly, according to authorities. Police say Ingram resisted arrest, forcing officers to use a taser in order to bring him under control. The use of the device pointed to a confrontation at the scene, as officers worked to detain a suspect who, in their account, was actively fighting against being taken into custody.
The struggle then escalated further. Investigators say that during the encounter, Ingram spit on and head-butted an officer. Those alleged actions turned the incident from a property crime into one that also involved an assault on law enforcement, raising the stakes for the suspect and adding to the list of allegations he now faces.
Alongside the two people charged, two juvenile girls were part of the group found at the scene, according to police. Taken together, the alleged break-in at the parked car, the use of stolen scooters and a stolen bicycle, and the reported assault on an officer form the basis of the case that authorities have now brought in the wake of the arrests in Hewlett Neck.