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Sen's Wife Abduct Part Of Spree?

Two men suspected of kidnapping a U.S. senator's wife from her Virginia home and forcing her at knifepoint to withdraw money from a bank were arrested early Thursday after a short police chase, police said.

Kathleen Gregg, wife of Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., managed to escape unharmed after her ordeal Tuesday. Some of her jewelry was found in the suspects' car, authorities said Thursday.

The men were spotted in Carteret, N.J., driving a car that matched a description of the assailants' vehicle, said Tammy Read, a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia.

WCBS-TV reports that Carteret police officers approached the silver Chevrolet Monte Carlo with Virginia license plates in a parking lot. A passenger fled on foot and the driver sped away, and a chase ensued.

The Monte Carlo rammed a police vehicle during the chase, which ended when the suspects' car crashed, authorities said. One suspect was injured.

"The suspects' vehicle failed to negotiate a turn. It was a pretty serious accident," Carteret Police Chief John Pieczyski said. He said no officers were injured and the injured suspect was taken to a hospital. Carteret police gave no further details, referring questions to the FBI.

Fairfax County police identified the suspects as Michael Pierre, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md., and the injured driver, Christopher Forbes, 31, of no fixed address.

Fairfax Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said he expects them to be charged in Virginia with abduction, robbery and burglary. They were being charged in New Jersey with aggravated assault on a police officer, possession of stolen property and other counts, Manger said.

The men could also face other charges in Virginia in connection with burglaries and attempted burglaries in Arlington and Alexandria, police said.

An FBI agent was in Carteret on Thursday morning, but no federal charges had yet been filed, said agent Steve Kodak, spokesman for the Newark FBI office. He said the FBI, Fairfax police and Carteret police were working jointly.

Mrs. Gregg said two men entered her McLean, Va., home Tuesday, threatened her with a knife and tied her up face down on the floor. Police said there was no indication the robbers knew who Mrs. Gregg was.

"One man was saying to the other man, `I don't care what happens. We're going to go down. We're going to go down together and she is going down with us,"' Mrs. Gregg told WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H., on Wednesday.

The intruders went through the house, taking her engagement ring, golf clubs and $50 from her wallet.

"One man was sitting on me and I kept thinking, `I need to get out of this house,' and I said, `The only way I can get you money is if we go to the bank,"' she said.

After lying tied up on the floor for more than an hour, she persuaded the men to untie her and take her to the bank. One assailant held a knife to her throat during the ride, she said.

Inside the bank, as she asked for money from a teller, she said one of the men stood beside her with the knife in her side. She gave the money to the men, then bolted along a hallway and hid in a closet.

"I thought, 'I am not getting back into that car with this man and going anywhere. I've got to get out of there,"' she said.

Said Manger on Thursday: "Her decision was perfect in terms of going along until she could safely get herself free."

After the arrest, the senator's office in Washington released a statement hailing "the extraordinary professionalism of our law enforcement."

President Bush, in New Hampshire for a speech Thursday, gave Mrs. Gregg a big hug as he arrived at an Air National Guard base in Portsmouth, N.H. He stood with his hand on her shoulder as she talked to him alongside Air Force One.

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