'He wouldn't let her out.' Chester man arrested for terrifying strip mall car theft with 82-year-old woman inside
Village of Chester police say Edward Keegan, 34, entered a vehicle that wasn’t his Friday morning, just before noon, at the Chester Mall on Brookside Avenue.
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A Chester man accused of creating a frightening and dangerous incident, while attempting to steal a vehicle with an elderly woman inside, has now been arrested for second degree robbery.
Village of Chester police say Edward Keegan, 34, entered a vehicle that wasn’t his Friday morning, just before noon, at the Chester Mall on Brookside Avenue.
According to the victims' relative, an 82-year-old woman was inside the vehicle during Keegan’s initial attempts to steal it and a frightening, violent ordeal ensued when the woman, and her daughter, attempted to intervene.
“He wouldn’t let her out of the car as she was screaming, ‘Let me out!’ My sister jumped in front of her car and stayed there screaming and banging to give my mom time to try to get out as he was punching my 82-year-old mother in the leg and grabbing her arm,” wrote Gina Migliore on Facebook.
Migliore says the incident unfolded outside of a Chinese restaurant near ShopRite.
It was caught on surveillance video and allegedly shows Keegan nearly strike both women with the car after the elderly woman eventually escaped and he speeds off.
“It’s traumatizing. It’s not OK. You can’t do this. We wanted to make sure that no one was going to have to deal with this again,” says Migliore in an exclusive interview with News 12.
Keegan allegedly crashed the stolen vehicle on Route 17, near exit 129, shortly after the incident began. He was taken into police custody and initially charged with grand larceny, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, harassment, reckless endangerment, and issued several traffic tickets. Police say the charges did not allow for an immediate arraignment under New York bail reform, and Keegan was processed and released on an appearance ticket.
“I was so angry. We just didn’t understand how we can allow this to happen,” says Migliore.
The incident garnered significant social media attention over the weekend and on Monday, with the assistance of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, officials say Keegan was arrested at his home on a warrant after he was indicted on multiple charges including robbery, unlawful imprisonment and assault.
As of Tuesday morning, he remains in Orange County Jail on $100,000 cash bail.
Migliore says her sister is now without a car and that their mother is shaken up with “bumps and bruises,” but that she’s grateful the community shared her post and her concern, which she feels led to the additional charges.
“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Migliore says. “It could’ve been much worse.”
Keegan is due in Orange County Court March 3.
