A Ventnor man on release in a pending drug and gun case is now accused of stealing a car in Atlantic City and then crashing into several vehicle while fleeing police.
Joseph Riley, 32, will now stay jailed, a judge ordered Wednesday.
Riley was on the highest level of pretrial release when he allegedly stole a 2025 Honda Civic from the 2900-block of Atlantic Avenue early Jan. 30.
The vehicle's owner called police just before 1:30 a.m. saying he had gone into the 7-Eleven and, when he came out, his dark gray car was gone.
Officers spotted the vehicle in the first block of Ohio Avenue, but the driver took off when police tried to stop it, according to the charges.
A short time later, police received reports of the car crashing into multiple vehicles, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Six vehicles were involved, according to information given at Riley's detention hearing.
He was later found hiding in a pile of lawn clippings behind a pool in the backyard of a home in the 1100-block of North Ohio Avenue, Assistant Prosecutor Despina Hess told the judge.
But defense attorney Rob Johnson said Riley was not arrested until hours after the theft, and that there was no indication that anyone could identify him.
The victim did not see the suspect, and police who tried to stop the vehicle gave no description of the driver, he said.
Hess pointed to surveillance footage that included showing the suspect matching Riley's description get out of a Toyota parked behind the Honda Civic, and then getting into the other car and driving away.
A man limping with long hair was then seen fleeing through nearby yards.
When Riley was found, he told police that he believed he injured his leg in a car crash, Hess said.
Johnson countered that medical records will show Riley had surgery on his foot two days earlier.
He was on crutches at his detention hearing.
Riley was released from jail in December after he and his father were charged with gun and drug offenses tied to a vehicle both were passengers in that ended up having guns hidden inside.
Johnson noted that the case was weak, which led to Riley's release in December. His father, also Joseph Riley, remained jailed.
Judge Dorothy Garrabrant agreed that the case is week, but also noted that the younger Riley missed seven of his required weekly check-ins since his release, including all of January.
He also has five other pending cases for a total of 10 charges.
Riley has been out of prison just six months, after serving a 3½-year sentence on drugs and resisting, state Department of Corrections records show.
That was one of nine periods of incarceration he has served on 12 prior indictable convictions, according to his record listed at his hearing.
After Garrabrant told Riley he would be held, he asked his attorney when he would be visiting him in the jail.
"I want to put the appeal in," he said of his right to fight the judge's decision to detain him. "I only have seven days."
His next court date is March 21.
