Suspect in carjacking, Verrazano Bridge shooting charged in murders

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Murder charges have been filed against the man who police say stole a car at gunpoint on Staten Island and then sparked a police-involved shooting at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza earlier this week.

Tyrell Brown was taken into custody just before midnight Tuesday, according to authorities. He appeared in court Friday and was arraigned in seven separate incidents, including two homicides. He is being held without bail. His family was in the courtroom for the arraignment.

Investigators say Brown carjacked a 2006 Hummer on Holland Avenue in the Howland Hook section just after 6 a.m. Sunday, and the subsequent investigation linked him to two murders that took place over the weekend.

Brown is accused of killing 40-year-old Kuwan Collins earlier Sunday in the Park Hill section, as well as 23-year-old Devin Powell, a few blocks from where the Hummer was carjacked.

In that incident, police say Brown forced the 29-year-old owner of the Hummer to lie on the ground before demanding money and taking off with the vehicle.

MTA Bridge and Tunnel officers were on the lookout for the vehicle after getting a hit on a license plate reader at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

The officers spotted the Hummer Monday morning and fired four shots after the driver refused to stop at the Staten Island-bound toll plaza around 1:15 a.m.

Authorities say a 24-year-old Staten Island woman jumped out of the vehicle and yelled "don't shoot" as she ran from the vehicle. She was taken into custody at the toll plaza.

Meanwhile, the driver fled the scene, striking another vehicle while peeling away. A passenger of that vehicle sustained minor injuries and was transported to Staten Island University Hospital. The officers were treated for trauma.

The Hummer came to a stop at Narrow Road North and Stuben Street, and Brown fled on foot. Police say he attempted to steal another car that was parked and running on Tuesday, jumping into the vehicle on Walker Street, but was unable to take the auto because it was a stick shift. The suspect then exited the vehicle, a 2013 Honda Civic, and fled the location.

There were no reported injuries.

Later in the evening, around 10:30 p.m., officers on patrol received information to his whereabouts and apprehended him in the vicinity of Osgood Avenue and Mosel Avenue without incident.

Brown is charged with second-degree murder, second-degree robbery, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and attempted robbery. He has 21 prior arrests, including robberies, possession of firearms, drug sales and criminal arson.