A man made off with a New York City police scooter and made it all the way into Paterson, New Jersey, before being busted Friday morning, cops say.

Richard Raphael Lopez, 43, of Manhattan, was arrested by Paterson police after leading them on a 40-mile per hour chase, according to Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale.

New York authorities first learned the scooter was missing when they received a call from a citizen who saw the vehicle traveling west on Route 4 in Elmwood Park, Speziale said.

New York police then used their automatic vehicle locator system to determine the scooter had been taken from a parking lot next to the Central Park precinct at around 4:30 a.m., according to Speziale.

None of the keys for the NYPD’s scooters were missing from the Central Park precinct, but they do operate on “universal key” system that is available through similar vehicles, according to authorities.

Paterson police received a call from NYPD asking them to intercept the scooter. Officers caught up to the vehicle on Trenton Avenue at 11:26 a.m., Speziale said.

Lopez briefly tried to evade officers but he was quickly captured along with scooter, according to Speziale.

Lopez has been charged with possession of stolen property and resisting arrest by Paterson police and faces grand larceny auto charge by New York police, officials said. Lopez also has pending arrest warrants in Fort Lee, Speziale said.

Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.