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The incident happened on Thursday, Sept. 28 around 1:30 p.m., when a Yorktown Police officer conducting traffic enforcement in the area of Veterans Road (Route 118) allegedly saw a car drive through a steady red traffic signal.
The officer then activated his emergency lights and sirens on his cruiser to pull the car over. Instead, though, the vehicle fled at speeds as high as 70 mph in a 40 mph zone before crashing into a tree on Saw Mill River Road, police said.
The driver, 27-year-old Joseph Iaropoli of Yorktown, was then taken into custody. At this point, officers discovered that Iaropoli's driving privileges had been suspended in New York after he allegedly refused to submit to a chemical test and that he was in possession of a metal knuckle knife, according to authorities.
Iaropoli was charged with:
- Third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle;
- Fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation.
Iaropoli was released on his own recognizance and will appear in court on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
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