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The incident happened on Thursday, March 23 around 9 p.m., when two officers from the Carmel Police Department were assigned to a traffic detail at a large gathering in Putnam County on Route 6 in Mahopac.
While the two officers were helping pedestrians and vehicles leave the area, an 18-year-old Northern Westchester man driving a "souped‐up" blue Dodge Challenger approached them and began taunting the officers with derogatory statements, according to Carmel Police.
The 18-year-old then further worsened the situation by allegedly offering the officers $50 to chase him in his vehicle, adding that he would never be caught.
The officers repeatedly tried to ask the man to leave the area, as he was creating a safety hazard by impeding vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It was then that the man performed a burnout right in front of a marked police cruiser, causing smoke to fill the air which further impacted the safety of the other cars and pedestrians in the area, police said.
The suspect then flew down Route 6 westbound at a high rate of speed, at which point Carmel officers began to chase his vehicle.
During the chase, the suspect allegedly swerved in and out of oncoming traffic, almost causing several head-on collisions before Carmel officers ended the chase out of safety concerns for everyone involved and the public.
The Dodge Challenger then entered Westchester and was allegedly spotted traveling more than 100 mph by police in Yorktown. Although officers tried to pull the vehicle over, it would not comply and continued to flee, leading Yorktown Police to also end their chase out of safety concerns.
After leaving Yorktown, the suspect was then seen driving over 140 mph in the southbound lane of the Taconic State Parkway by New York State Police, who eventually found the vehicle stopped at the exit ramp leading to Pleasantville Road in Briarcliff Manor.
Police then determined that the Challenger's engine had seized, leaving it broken down and smoking.
The unnamed suspect, described as "arrogant" by Carmel Police, was then taken into custody and charged with Driving While Intoxicated in addition to a host of other vehicle and traffic violations.
Carmel Police will also be filing additional charges against the man in Carmel Town Court for the following:
- Reckless endangerment;
- Criminal possession of a forged instrument;
- Unlawfully fleeing a police officer.
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