A fearless Manhattan jewelry store employee helped police capture a teen gunman, relentlessly chasing him through the Upper West Side until the assailant finally gave him back $60,000 in stolen baubles, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Alexander Walsh, who’s in his 20’s, was doing some wiring in the basement of More and More Antiques on Amsterdam Avenue and West 79th Street around 2:30 p.m. Monday, when he heard his fellow co-worker, Nancy Mancini, making loud noises on the first floor, sources said.
Walsh dashed upstairs to investigate and saw Mancini lying on the ground with suspected thief, Israel Mincey, standing over her, holding a bag of jewelry and holding a small semi-automatic, sources said.
The tough-as-nails Walsh chased Mincey out onto Amsterdam Avenue, then pursued him west on 78th Street to Broadway, then north to 79th Street, sources said.
The two ran down 79th Street into Riverside Park, then went south to 75th Street, where they dashed onto West End Avenue and finally ended up on 73rd Street, sources said.
Fed up, Mincey spun around and tossed the bag of baubles at Walsh, along with a knapsack, sources said.
He begged Walsh to “stop following me,” then ran up to the 72nd Street subway station at Broadway and hopped on a southbound No. 1 train, sources said.
Walsh gave cops the jewelry bag and knapsack, which contained papers with Mincey’s name.
Detectives did a computer check, which revealed that Mincey had four prior arrests for gun possession and robbery, sources said.
Hours later, investigators arrested Mincey near his Brooklyn home in Crown Heights on charges of robbery, grand larceny and weapon possession.