A Newark Parking Authority Enforcement Officer was injured by a screwdriver wielded by the assailant.
NEWARK -- An unarmed Newark parking enforcement officer is being commended for chasing down a robbery suspect and holding him until police arrived despite being stabbed in the arm with a screwdriver during the scuffle.
Edwin SanchezKeion Jason Lewis, 21, who has been working for the Newark Parking Authority for about six months, was flagged down at 4 p.m. Saturday by a woman who reported she had just been robbed.
"Basically, I'm finishing up my ticketing on Broadway and a lady who could be, like, my grandmother comes up to me and asked for help to catch a Hispanic male who had stolen her phone," Lewis said in an interview Sunday night.
"I walked up to the guy and I said, 'Hey, can you give her back her phone?' And he said 'no,' and he ran off and I ran after him," Lewis said. "And as he's running he takes out a pretty long screwdriver and takes a swipe at me, and luckily he missed. And I was able to kind of push him to the ground."
The alleged robber, later identified as Edwin Sanchez, 29, of Newark, continued to struggle with Lewis on the ground and stabbed him in the forearm with the screw driver, authorities said. Sanchez fled again and jumped on a bike, authorities said.
Lewis said he called police on his cell phone and continued the chase at first on foot, and then then in his parking authority car. He eventually caught up to Sanchez and the bike collided with the car, knocking Sanchez to the sidewalk, Lewis said.
Parking enforcement officers are not police, do not carry guns and have no arrest powers, so he held Sanchez to the pavement until police officers arrived to make the arrest, he said.
Lewis was taken to University Medical Center in Newark to have his arm bandaged.
Newark police charged Sanchez with robbery and weapons offenses.
"I commend the swift actions of the Parking Authority officer for going beyond his job to rid the street of another criminal," Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said statement praising Lewis.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.