Driver Leads Police On A 2-Hour Chase Through Westchester: WCPD

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Instead of escaping justice, a suspect already wanted by the NYPD only managed to collect a whole lot more trouble in Westchester County.

The Westchester County Police Department said that a Mount Vernon man refused to pull over for a traffic stop on Monday and then led police on a two-hour chase throughout the county.

It all started shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday when the Real Time Crime Center informed police that a BMW wanted by the NYPD for fleeing from police was traveling on Westchester Ave. in Harrison.

A WCPD officer spotted the BMW on the southbound Hutchinson River Parkway and attempted to stop the car. The driver then pulled onto the shoulder, put the vehicle in reverse and narrowly missed hitting the patrol car, according to police. The BMW then sped away, recklessly driving through a coned-off construction zone, endangering road workers as well as drivers passing slowly in an adjacent lane, officials said.

Police decided to end the pursuit for safety reasons but an officer further south on the Hutchinson River Parkway saw the BMW exit at Mill Road in Eastchester. The officer followed the vehicle but did not pursue due to traffic conditions.

The fleeing vehicle then made its way to the Bronx River Parkway where another WCPD officer spotted it near the Cross County Parkway but ended the pursuit when it reached the NYC line.

Though the vehicle was out of their sight, officers kept a lookout for its possible return and also continued to search the area. Shortly before 3 p.m., the Conditions Unit found the BMW parked on South 4th Ave. in Mount Vernon, and then waited for the suspect to return.

Around 3:15 p.m., a man headed towards the BMW and appeared to be attempting to switch its license plate from the improper New Jersey tag that was on it. As officers closed in, he led them on yet another pursuit, but this time, he was on foot. A perimeter was established with Mount Vernon Police Department officers, and other WCPD officers from the Emergency Services Unit and Canine Unit also came to the scene.

Bloodhound "Essex" led her handler and ESU officers to a yard on South Fifth Ave. in Mount Vernon, where the suspect was then taken into custody.

28-year-old Easton Spencer was charged with reckless endangerment 2nd degree, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle 3rd degree, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle 3rd degree and obstruction of governmental administration 2nd degree.

In addition, Spencer received tickets for unsafe backing, speeding in a construction zone, unsafe lane change, crossing road hazard markings, improper passing on the right, driving on slopes and shoulders, unsafe turn/failure to signal, failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to obey a police officer, driving with a suspended license, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, operating without an inspection certificate and having a faulty exhaust system, excessively tinted windows and a single license plate.

The WCPD said that there were a slew of additional tickets as well.

Police also discovered that Spencer had warrants in Mount Vernon and at least one other jurisdiction. He was booked at WCPD headquarters and then handed over to the MVPD.

The WCPD declared the moral of the story to be that Spencer would have been "in a lot less trouble if he had just pulled over in the first place."