Bayonne police car.JPG

On Jan. 25, a 23-year-old Florida man tried to evade the Bayonne police after a burglary but his escape was cut short due to a slippery patch of ice, police said.

(Journal File Photo)

A 23-year-old Florida man apparently unaccustomed to the region's wintry conditions thought he could outrun Bayonne police but the chase ended quickly after he wiped out on patch of ice, police said.

Juan Carlos Cosme Gonzalez, of Orlando, 23, was arrested on Jan. 25 at about 3 a.m. and charged with burglary, robbery, and criminal mischief after breaking into a home on West 43rd Street and fleeing the area, said Capt. Walter Rogers.

"The victim said he was taking out the garbage to the curb when Gonzalez followed him back to his home," said Rogers.

Once Gonzalez was in the home he reached for a laptop nearby and attempted to leave but was struck several times in the back with a broomstick by the victim, Rogers said.

Gonzalez then dropped the laptop and threw a candle at the 56-year-old man as the brief melee ensued, resulting in Gonzalez shattering one of the windows in the home, police said.

Rogers said Gonzalez broke another window and jumped onto the sidewalk and fled toward Broadway until officers who were canvassing the area between Broadway and West 44th Street saw a man who matched the description. Officers ordered Gonzalez to stop but he made a run for it until he slipped on a "snow covered road".

The bail was set to $25,000 cash and he was sent to the Hudson County Jail, said Rogers.