staten island : Mariners Harbor man arrested after chase

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - He had a suspended driver’s license, and when police spotted him driving and talking on his cell phone, instead of pulling over, he sped off, then jumped out of his car in a bid to escape, according to authorities.

Police say Reginald M. Johnson, 38, of Roxbury Street, Mariners Harbor, was driving at the corner of Richmond Terrace and South Avenue at 11:45 a.m. Sunday when officers spotted him on his phone.

He sped away, police allege, then ditched his vehicle a 2003 GMC, on Northfield Court, and tried to jump over a fence.

Officers caught up with him, though, and he wrestled with two officers, kicking and flailing as he they tried to cuff him, police said.

Johnson is charged with resisting arrest, third-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and second-degree obstructing governmental administration.