2 Arrested After Fleeing County Police In Van

YORKTOWN, NY — Westchester County Police arrested two Brooklyn men late Wednesday night after they fled from officers in a van with stolen license plates before crashing it into some trees as they exited the Taconic State Parkway in Yorktown. One of the trees struck by the van toppled on to a County Police patrol car as the officer pulled up to the scene, shattering the windshield with the officer still behind the wheel.

The tree did not enter the police vehicle and the officer was not injured.

Police said the two suspects climbed from the van in a further attempt to flee but were taken into custody at the scene.

The incident began about 11 p.m. when the Real Time Crime Center at county police headquarters alerted patrol officers that a Honda Odyssey with stolen license plates was traveling on the Taconic State Parkway in Mount Pleasant. An officer observed the vehicle going north at Pines Bridge Road in New Castle and attempted to stop it, but the van fled at speeds up to 100 mph. The van’s driver also turned off the headlights in an effort to avoid capture, according to authorities.

The van exited at Underhill Avenue at a high rate of speed, lost control near the bottom of the exit ramp and collided with several trees, police said. The vehicle came to a stop in some dense underbrush. As a County Police officer pulled up, one of the trees toppled over on to his patrol car. That officer and others took both suspects into custody.

The driver of the vehicle is identified as Francisco Torres, 47, of Brooklyn. He was charged with fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle and first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, felonies; and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree reckless endangerment and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanors. The drug charge stems from a small amount of heroin found in the vehicle, police said.

The passenger, Luis Ramos, 47, also of Brooklyn, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and false personation, misdemeanors. Police said he initially gave officers a false name following his arrest.

Ramos complained of chest pain from injuries suffered in the crash and was taken by the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he was admitted. He was released Thursday, booked at county police headquarters and then turned over to the New York Police Department on an active New York City arrest warrant.

Torres was held overnight at headquarters and was arraigned Thursday in Yorktown Justice Court. He was remanded to the county jail in Valhalla without bail.

The Yorktown Heights Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the scene and assisted county officers in removing the fallen tree from on top of the patrol car.

Find and “Like” Hudson Valley Patches' Facebook Pages.