To cops, it seemed like another traffic stop in the Holland Tunnel — but to the men in the car, it looked like they were about to get a ticket to prison, authorities said yesterday.
A Brooklyn man charged his Jeep Cherokee into a Port Authority officer who pulled him over for an illegal lane change, said sources.
The officer responded by firing off five rounds, wounding the driver.
Unknown to the officer, driver Jahaad Sanders, 19, and his passenger, Lorenzi Dease, 24, had just been caught on tape pinching items from a New Jersey drugstore, said sources.
Sanders smashed into cars and tried to commandeer other vehicles before cops collared Dease and him on the Manhattan side, said sources.
Police also found multiple packets of heroin in the tunnel, which they believe the escaping suspects tossed out, sources said.
Sanders and Dease are charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, carjacking and unlawful weapons possession, a Port Authority spokesman said.