Saturday afternoon at Brooklyn's Kings Plaza turned surreal when what started as an alleged car theft ended with a police search of Mill Basin and one suspect nowhere to be found in the water, authorities said. Officers detained one person near the mall, while a second allegedly bolted toward the shoreline, jumped into the basin and disappeared beneath the surface as shoppers watched.
Police units lined the waterfront and scanned the area around the parking lot as the search unfolded. As of the latest reports, authorities had not released the suspects' names or any formal charges.
What police say
Two people are accused of trying to steal a car outside Kings Plaza, and one was taken into custody while the second jumped into Mill Basin to evade arrest, as reported by CBS New York. Video from the scene shows officers walking the shoreline, talking with witnesses and focusing their search near the mall parking area. At the time of that report, police had not yet publicly identified the suspects or detailed the potential charges.
Where it happened
The incident unfolded just outside Kings Plaza, the regional shopping center listed at 5100 Kings Plaza in southeastern Brooklyn, according to the mall's contact information. The complex sits on the northwestern edge of Mill Basin and ranks as one of the borough's major retail hubs, a setup that puts its parking lots only steps from the water. That geography means a foot chase can turn into a shoreline search in a matter of seconds for responding officers.
Why the water search matters
Mill Basin is part of a network of tidal inlets that feed into Jamaica Bay and can produce strong currents and murky visibility that make searches difficult, according to neighborhood descriptions on Wikipedia. In similar waterfront emergencies around the city, the NYPD typically calls in harbor and dive teams that can deploy boats, divers and sonar equipment, as noted in coverage by ABC7 New York. Those conditions turn any jump into the water into a race against time for investigators.
How to help
The NYPD is asking anyone who may have information or video of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or to submit a tip online so detectives can follow up. Officers continued canvassing the surrounding streets and reviewing surveillance footage from the mall and nearby blocks.
Authorities said more details will be released as the investigation moves forward and urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.
