A Pleasantville man accused of stealing three vehicles within three days and crashing two of them has been released from jail.
Joshua Roe, 26, was arrested last week after he allegedly stole a work truck from the Mays Landing Campus of Atlantic Cape Community College, and then led police on a chase through Pleasantville and into Atlantic City, crashing several cars.
Just hours earlier on Aug. 20, Roe had been released from jail for allegedly crashing another stolen vehicle after Pleasantville police chased him. They terminated that chase for public safety, but Roe wound up in jail after he was arrested in Galloway Township for stealing from the CVS.
But his issues began Aug. 18, when he was arrested with a stolen motor vehicle in Atlantic City, and released on a summons.
Roe, who has no apparent criminal record before this, has been jailed since last Tuesday, pending Thursday’s detention hearing.
At that time, Superior Court Judge Rodney Cunningham followed the public safety assessment recommendation that Roe be released with the lowest monitoring, which requires him to check in by phone monthly.
Before Cunningham made his decision, Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Witherspoon said he didn’t understand how the PSA could recommend release considering that the last time Roe was freed, he committed a similar crime.
“Within hours of being released from jail, the defendant stole another car and engaged in a pursuit … during which time he crashed into multiple cars, some of which were occupied,” Witherspoon told the judge.
He noted that two people were taken to the hospital.
“We ask is he going to come to court,” Witherspoon said, of one of the deciders in granting release. “He did everything he could to elude police.”
As the prosecutor spoke, Roe nodded his head several times.
He later told the judge he would make his court dates.
“Can I get a list of all the dates?” he asked.
He is next scheduled to be in court Oct. 17.
