Westchester Police Track Stolen Car, Find Wanted Man

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Westchester County police tracking a car stolen in Philadelphia ended up catching a man wanted in New York City on an attempted murder charge.

The incident began at 2:48 p.m. Sunday when the county's Real Time Crime Center broadcast an alert that a Nissan Altima stolen in Philadelphia was traveling north on the Hutchinson River Parkway near Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains.

A patrol officer located the vehicle quickly, and followed it. With a second county police officer, and backed up by officers from the Harrison Police Department, a traffic stop was made at the Harrison-Rye Brook border.

The officers took a man and a woman into custody and brought them to county police headquarters in Hawthorne.

The man, who was the driver, initially provided a false name, police said. Officers determined his real identity and discovered that a warrant was issued for his arrest by the NYPD charging him with second-degree attempted murder.

Joseph Serge, 34, of Brooklyn was charged by the WCPD with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony; and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor. He was turned over to detectives from the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn, where a warrant had been issued for his arrest on the attempted murder charge.

His passenger was released without charges, police said.