Car thief evades police in wild Manhattan pursuit, later tracked down by cops and K9

A car thief eluded police in a wild pursuit in Manhattan Saturday morning, only for cops and K9s to later sniff him out and cuff him inside an apartment, police said.

After canvassing the area officers spotted John Bernabel, 30, in the white Dodge Charger, with its distinct black hood at about 10:55 a.m. near Catherine St. near South St. in Two Bridges, cops said.

The officers, riding in a marked RMP, turned their car’s turret lights on and attempted to pull Bernabel over. Instead, he took off, with cops trailing behind him “at a normal speed and a safe distance,” an NYPD spokesperson said.

Determined to evade police, Bernabel began driving against traffic on the wrong side of the road when he reached South St., traveling “at a high rate of speed” before the officers eventually lost sight of him, cops said.

The NYPD modified its approach to fleeing suspects last year, with less emphasis on high-speed chases and more reliance, on roadblocks, police helicopters and license plate readers.

Cops later found the Dodge Charger abandoned on Henry St. near Grand St. at about 11:26 a.m., police said.

After cops conducted a video canvas, K9 units tracked the suspect down at an apartment on Madison Ave. near Henry St. in the Vladeck Houses NYCHA complex.

Someone inside the unit let officers in and they arrested Bernabel without incident, cops said.

No one was injured in the pursuit, cops said.

Bernabel was hit with a slew of charges including grand larceny auto, criminal possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment, unauthorized use of a vehicle and fleeing officers in a motor vehicle, among other charges.

He lives in the Alfred E. Smith Houses NYCHA complex about a mile away from the scene, cops said.