Queens robbery, police chase ends in fiery crash

FLUSHING (WABC) -- A robbery and ensuing police chase ended in a fiery crash in Queens early Tuesday.

Officers were pursuing suspects in the armed holdup of a convenience store who tried to make a quick and clean getaway that didn't go as planned, with the NYPD hot on their trail.

It was just after 2 a.m. when police responded to an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven on Northern Boulevard and 171st Street.

The suspects were reportedly wearing masks and carrying shotguns.

Officers noticed the men in a vehicle leaving the area, and a chase ensued on the Long Island Expressway.

Police say the suspects then tossed items out the window on the LIE at Utopia Parkway, where they exited the highway. Those items are believed to be cash from the register and the clerk's wallet.

The chase ended at 164th Street and Pigeon Meadow Road in Flushing, where the suspects crashed into a pole in a deli parking lot and the vehicle burst into flames.

Three suspects bailed out of the vehicle and were quickly apprehended.

Initially, police thought they were looking for a fourth suspect, but they now believe they have all three people responsible for the armed robbery in custody.

A shotgun was recovered from inside the vehicle's passenger-side door. The vehicle, a Nissan Altima, is registered to woman in Hempstead.

The fire department was called in to extinguish the car and stop the flames from spreading throughout the deli, which was damaged by the impact and the fire.

Charges are pending against the three suspects, two of whom are hospitalized with injuries from the crash.

The 29-year-old driver was being questioned, while a 21-year-old man in the vehicle sustained a broken hip and a 22-year-old man broke his left hand. They are being treated at Flushing Hospital.

Detectives are looking into whether the suspects are linked to a recent Queens robbery pattern, where all of the holdups occurred in convenience stores between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.