Original newspaper clippings from the infamous high-speed chase and subsequent standoff that captured the media's attention in August 1971.
August 1971 - by Lawrence DeMaria
Organized Crime Task Force detectives stopped to question Gregory Scarpa Jr. in a gas station on Amboy Rd. near Richmond Ave., Eltingville, leading to a major standoff and media circus at the Scarpa family home.
August 6, 1971 — Staten Island Advance
Police examine the car Gregory Scarpa Jr. was said to be driving when he allegedly tried to run down a detective and then led police on a chase at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour. The car was found abandoned on Melville Ave., Princes Bay.
August 1971
Gregory Scarpa Sr. secures the gate to his yard, from which police were barred for a time before Scarpa Jr. surrendered to authorities.
August 1971
Gregory Scarpa Jr., right, of Princes Bay appears far less concerned than his attorney, Martin Light, as the two enter the Tottenville stationhouse following the standoff.
August 1971
Dozens of newsmen and TV crews scurried around corners in unseemly haste. Scarpa Sr. denied collusion with police, stating the decoy was his idea alone, while keeping an eye on a Doberman Pinscher in the yard.