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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
An ex-con, with more than 200 arrests and open criminal cases in four boroughs was let out on parole, free to allegedly take cops on a wild stolen car chase which left two police officers injured.
As reported by the NY Post, in the case of Joshua Padilla, 29, the judge did not feel it necessary to keep him locked up despite over a half-dozen criminal cases pending against him. A career criminal, the suspect had just finished a three-year stay in state prison for a grand larceny conviction, and had managed to rack up numerous new cases after his release. “It’s like he’s Teflon,” one law enforcement source said. “Arrest, jail, prison — none of it means anything to him. That’s what we’re up against.”
Last Tuesday, Padilla was finally locked back up, but only after a dangerous chase, in which he allegedly tried to runaway from the police in Manhattan by jumping off a 15-foot overpass and stealing an idling van, which he eventually crashed into an NYPD cruiser. “A vehicle w/ stolen plates entering NYC didn’t stop for highway patrol,” the NYPD said in a Wednesday post titled “Wanted & riding dirty.” “So @NYPD33Pct cops & detectives assisted in tracking & catching a career criminal w/ 200+ prior arrests & 7 warrants after stealing a getaway car that didn’t get him very far.”
Padilla has open robbery and grand larceny cases in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn, per the Post. He has a total of 201 previous arrests dating back to 2006, not including sealed cases, for charges including forgery, grand larceny, robbery, burglary and reckless endangerment. In 2017, he was sentenced to three to six years in prison after pleading guilty to grand larceny in a Manhattan case. In 2021, he was released on parole, but sources say he doesn’t seem to have broken his bad habits. “He steals cars, he commits robberies — robs people, banks, anything — assaults,” one police source said. “He behaves like a modern-day outlaw,” the source said, adding, “He is the revolving door. He operates with impunity.”
In his latest stint on Tuesday, Padilla was seen driving a white 2021 Dodge Charger with stolen license plates on the Henry Hudson Parkway at about 11:30 a.m., per the criminal complaint. Police tried to pull over the vehicle, which was reported stolen from Staten Island on Aug. 2, but Padilla allegedly crashed the car and took off running, even leaving behind a 23-year-old female companion he was with. In his bid to evade the cops, the suspect proceeded to jump off a 15-foot overpass and allegedly then stole a 2014 Dodge Caravan that had been left idling close to West 155th Street and Riverside Park.
Cops continued to chase him, so he also crashed this vehicle right into an NYPD patrol car, injuring two NYPD officers and running away on foot again, before he was finally caught, per the complaint. The cops were treated for minor injuries at Mount Sinai Morningside. Padilla himself was taken to Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a minor leg injury. He was charged with two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and four counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Per the Post, his arraignment was held in Manhattan Criminal Court, and prosecutors requested that Padilla be held on $35,000 bail. The judge instead set it at $25,000 in cash or a $50,000 bond. Padilla is currently locked up on Rikers Island.
