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KINGSTON — A man from Luzerne being pursued by police Monday told officers he didn’t stop because “…cops are shooting people,” according to charges filed.
Kingston police arrested Robert Maurice Darnell Dinkins, 27, of Charles Street, after he pulled into the parking lot of Arby’s Restaurant on Pierce Street at about 9:40 a.m., ending a several-mile pursuit that began in the area of Zerby Avenue and Pringle Street.
Dinkins allegedly initiated the pursuit when an off-duty police officer spotted him inside a vehicle believed to have been involved with an incident in Wilkes-Barre.
According to the criminal complaint:
Wilkes-Barre police released a be-on-the-lookout to area police departments for a silver Oldsmobile that was used by a man to flee the scene of a foot chase. During the foot chase in Wilkes-Barre, a man dropped a firearm.
An off-duty officer spotted the vehicle allegedly occupied by Dinkins in the area of Zerby Avenue and Pringle Street.
An on-duty Kingston officer approached the vehicle but was not able to see inside due to dark tinted windows.
The driver, identified as Dinkins, looked out an open window and drove away, initiating a pursuit.
Police allege Dinkins turned onto Pringle Street and drove through a parking lot at Valero service station on Wyoming Avenue failing to stop for traffic.
Dinkins turned onto East Hoyt Street and passed through several stop signs, and turned onto North Gates Avenue and Pierce Street, turning into Arby’s Restaurant.
Police said Dinkins opened the driver’s side door and got on the ground but still had his feet inside the vehicle.
Dinkins kept saying he didn’t stop because “his friend just died and he was scared because cops are shooting people,” the complaint says.
Dinkins was arraigned by District Judge James Haggerty in Kingston on charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police, recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $2,500 bail.
