Joyrides Over For Phantom Motorcyclist Of Route 9

They got him.

For more than a week, the man on the neon-green Kawasaki with no license plates had careened down Route 9 through Bayville, Pine Beach and Beachwood, hitting speeds of more than 100 miles per hour during rush hour.

Today was no exception. Christopher Lane, 23, Browns Mills, was spotted  speeding down the center of two-lane Route 9 in Bayville, making obscene gestures at police as he flew by around 7:30 a.m.

"Today he gave us the finger as he passed by," Berkeley Detective Sgt. James J. Smith said.

But this time, Lane didn't complete his journey.

This time, Berkeley Detective Joseph Robertazzi and Beachwood Detective Sgt. Glen DeMarco were watching Lane from the vantage point of a New Jersey State Police helicopter they had boarded during the early morning hours from a ballfield in Manitou Park.

It didn't take long to spot him. Lane entered Route 9 northbound in the area of Ocean Gate Drive in Bayville around 7:30 a.m. and roared down Route 9.

The helicopter tracked him as he entered the Garden State Parkway northbound, then got off at Exit 91 in Brick Township. He was finally apprehended at a commercial business near 4th Street and Monmouth Avenue in Lakewood.

"The New Jersey State Police helicopter directed a responding Beachwood Police vehicle to the business where the suspect was arrested without further incident," Smith said.

Lane was taken to the Beachwood Police Department where he was interviewed by detectives. He admitted his involvement in rides over the past week, on Aug 22, Aug. 23, Aug. 24, Aug. 28, Aug. 29 and this morning, Smith said.

Lane, whose address is 50 Sepulga Drive in Browns Mills, had been staying at his girlfriend's house in Bayville. Police seized his 2005 Kawasaki ZX6.

Lane was charged with seven counts of second degree eluding and various other motor vehicle violations. Berkeley Municipal Court Judge James Gluck said Lane's bail at $205,000 with no ten percent option, Smith said.

Lane told police he eluded police because he had traffic warrants and a suspended driver's license, Smith said.

He now faces much more than that.

"He really put the motoring public in harm's way," Smith said. “The safe apprehension of this suspect would not have been possible without the cooperation of all of the police units involved. The State Police helicopter was the edge we needed to get this guy."

In most of the instances over the past week, police from area departments did not follow Lane in a high-speed chase because of the danger to other motorists, Smith said.

Police departments from Berkeley, Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River assisted in the investigation, he said.