Two Loaded Handguns Recovered, Two Suspects Arrested After Lawrence Police Pursue Stolen Car

Two Trenton men were arrested and two handguns were recovered after Lawrence Township police spotted a stolen car and pursued the vehicle along Route 1 early this morning, Saturday, Jan. 7.

The brief car chase – lasting from about 12:26 to 12:30 a.m. – came to an end when the suspects abandoned the stolen vehicle and took off running, police said.

Officers ran after and caught up with a passenger, while a police dog located the alleged driver hiding under a parked vehicle a short time later.

Police identified the driver as Wade Wallace, 26, of Hart Avenue in Trenton, and the passenger as Ronnie Livingston, 22, of Olden Avenue in Trenton.

The two guns – one a revolver, the other a semiautomatic – were allegedly tossed by the suspects from the stolen car during the chase but were later located on the side of Route 1 by police. Both were loaded, the latter with hollow-point bullets.

Lawrence Township Police Sgt. Chris Longo said Officers Andrew Lee and Marc Caponi were conducting routine motor vehicle enforcement along Brunswick Pike (Route 1) when they spotted the stolen car.

“They saw a car come out of the Howard Johnson’s [motel] and go southbound on Route 1 without its headlights on,” Longo said. He said the officers, riding together in the same police car, ran a computer check on the license plate number and learned that the 1999 Lincoln Towncar had been reported stolen on Friday from Pennsylvania Avenue in Trenton.    

The officers followed the car as it passed the split with Business Route 1 and got onto the Trenton Freeway.

“Once they activated their [police car’s] lights and sirens, the car accelerated and wouldn’t stop,” Longo said. “As they got past Whitehead Road, the occupants of the car started throwing stuff out the windows.”

As Longo and other Lawrence Township officers – Thomas Maple, Bruce Miller, Joseph Radlinski, Scott Stein and Shawn Sudol – headed in that direction to assist them, Lee and Caponi followed the stolen Lincoln as it exited Route 1 South onto New York Avenue in Trenton, Longo said.

Less than a minute later, the suspects ditched the car on Klagg Avenue, off Mulberry Street, in Trenton, he said.

Livingston could not outrun officers and was caught within seconds, Longo said. He said Trenton police, having also responded to the area to assist the Lawrence officers, used a dog to search the neighborhood and located Wallace hiding under a parked vehicle.

With the suspects in custody, some Lawrence police officers went back out to the Trenton Freeway and began searching with flashlights for the objects allegedly tossed from the stolen car. They soon discovered the two loaded handguns, Longo said, noting that a few bullets were also found scattered on the side of the road.

Wallace was charged with eluding police, receiving stolen property, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of hollow-point bullets, and tampering with physical evidence, as well as four traffic violations including reckless driving, according to Longo.

He said Livingston was charged with receiving stolen property, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of hollow-point bullets, and tampering with physical evidence.

Longo said Detective Todd Caruso is continuing the investigation and is working to determine if there had been others in the stolen car in addition to Wallace and Livingston.

This is the second stolen vehicle recovered by Lawrence Township police in the last few days. On Wednesday, Jan. 4, Lawrence police arrested William M. Alvino, 55, of Trenton, following a brief foot chase that started after he