Wild Hudson Valley Car Pursuit Ends Right Back Where It Started

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A driver, now facing felony charges, managed to run from police, but in truth, he was caught before he ever sped away.

In the early morning hours on Thursday, New Rochelle detectives tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle — it turns out their suspicions were warranted because the car immediately fled at high speed. Detectives terminated the pursuit, but immediately began an investigation into the vehicle.

Later in the day, at about 10 a.m., the vehicle was again spotted on Main Street near Memorial Highway, stuck in traffic. Officers on scene directing traffic approached the vehicle and attempted to speak to the driver and initiate another traffic stop, but the driver refused to communicate and police say, intentionally drove over a sidewalk, forcing officers to jump out of the way of the moving vehicle.

The vehicle then fled New Rochelle into surrounding jurisdictions, including Eastchester, Pelham, and Scarsdale.

Meanwhile, the Eastchester Police Department was notified by the Westchester County Real Time Crime Center (RTC) of a wanted vehicle that entered the jurisdiction. With updates from RTC, Eastchester officers were able to locate the suspect vehicle and follow it on White Plains Road.

Officers once again tried to stop the car at which time the driver, who had stopped, accelerated towards one of the officers in the only passable lane of travel, according to police. This forced the officer to jump out of the way of the oncoming vehicle, as it nearly struck him, officials said. Eastchester officers then pursued the vehicle to the Bronx River Parkway. The driver then fled at a high speed and officers eventually lost sight of the vehicle.

The vehicle eventually fled into Rockland County via the Mario Cuomo Bridge.

At the same time, New Rochelle detectives were developing leads and were able to later locate the vehicle at about 10 p.m. that night in the Village of Pelham. Further investigation led detectives to locate the suspect, later identified as Paul Murch, at the Shooters bar in New Rochelle. The suspect again attempted to flee when officers converged on him, but he was ultimately arrested.

The 28-year-old also has extraditable warrants out of New Jersey for charges including assault and eluding police. After being booked for charges in New Rochelle, Merch was released without bail, but sent to the Eastchester Police Department to be held on felony charges. Murch was arraigned in Eastchester Town Court and was transported to the Westchester County Jail, being held on bail.

Murch faces reckless endangerment and obstruction of governmental administration charges in New Rochelle, and was charged with attempted assault and attempted aggravated assault of a police officer in Eastchester.