Lakewood Tent City Denizen Arrested after Car, Foot Chase in Manchester

A Lakewood Tent City dweller whose last known address is in Trenton is in the Ocean County Jail after taking police on a wild car chase through Manchester.

Police say that Robert Marcocci was clocked driving over the speed limit on Route 70 around 3:30 AM last Saturday. An officer in a squad car tried to pull him over, only to watch the car widen the gap at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour.

According to authorities, the car then reversed direction on the highway, traveling against the flow of traffic to Eisenhower Circle, where it pounded the curbside, skittered across the grass median and ground to a halt on four flat tires.

At that point, say police, Marcocci bolted from the car, tossed away two bags of cocaine and led officers on a foot chase along Myrtle Street in Lakehurst. He was found behind a shed and apprehended.

Officers say that Marcocci had additional cocaine on him at the time of the arrest, and that they also found a crack pipe nearby.

Investigators say that Marcocci tried outrunning police to avoid being ticketed for driving with a suspended license. He's charged with obstruction, resisting arrest, cocaine and paraphernalia possession, suppression of evidence, and a raft of traffic violations.