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Yonkers resident Martin Gjurashaj, age 45, and Tuckahoe resident Daniel Curanovic, age 27, were both arrested on Friday, Aug. 16 in connection with an incident in Sullivan and Orange counties on the same day, New York State Police announced on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
According to authorities, at around noon on Friday, state troopers received a report of a grey convertible sedan driving at a slow speed and failing to stay in its lane on Route 209 in the Sullivan County town of Mamakating.
A trooper soon found the vehicle described in the report, a 2011 Mercedes-Benz convertible, driving south on Route 209 and saw it swerve into oncoming traffic before eventually swerving back into the southbound lane, police said.
The trooper then pulled the Mercedes-Benz over and identified its occupants as Gjurashaj and Curanovic. As the trooper spoke with Gjurashaj, he put the car in drive and sped away, according to authorities.
The Mercedes-Benz then began heading east on Route 17, eventually driving into Orange County and hitting a marked State Police vehicle in the town of Monroe before continuing on, police said.
Following the collision, authorities added that the chase finally ended on the entrance ramp of Interstate 87 northbound in the town of Woodbury when the Mercedes-Benz hit an uninvolved vehicle. Gjurashaj and Curanovic were both arrested after this second crash and taken to Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown for minor injuries.
Gjurashaj was later hit with several charges, including driving while under the influence of drugs, first-degree reckless endangerment, and unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle. He was then remanded to Sullivan County Jail.
Meanwhile, Curanovic was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and released on an appearance ticket.
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