Jeep Crash Suspect Released After Glen Cove Arrest Saturday: PD

GLEN COVE, NY — A 30-year-old man who rammed a stolen Jeep into a police cruiser on Wednesday was caught with stolen car keys last Saturday in Glen Cove, but was released under the new bail reform law, Glen Cove police said.

Police said Christopher Cruz, who is homeless, had car keys and prescription medication that were stolen from a car in Glen Cove when police responded to Walgreens on Forest Avenue over a report of a “suspicious person.” He was charged with fifth-degree possession of stolen property, a misdemeanor, and was due to return to Glen Cove City Court for arraignment on March 9, police said.

Cruz made headlines after police said he was arrested for ramming a stolen Jeep into a police cruiser and injured two Suffolk County police officers. Police said he initially stole the Jeep from a Port Jefferson home and then led officers on a chase from Coram into Mount Sinai.

He was charged with second-degree assault, third-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest. He was still being held on $50,000 bond on Thursday. He is due back in court on March 1, according to online court records.

If convicted, Cruz faces up to seven years in prison on the top charge of second-degree assault alone.