Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced today that Joseph Columbus, 41, of Manhattan, was charged with leading the police on a dangerous motor vehicle pursuit while his multiple children were in the car. Columbus was arraigned last Wednesday on a superseding felony complaint charging him with one count of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, a class D felony, three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A misdemeanor, one count of Reckless Driving, a class A misdemeanor, one count of Unlawful Fleeing a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor, and one count of Resisting Arrest, a class A misdemeanor.
At a subsequent bail hearing Friday, Judge Erin McGoey set bail at $5,000 cash/$10,000 bond/$25,000 partially secured bond. He is due back in court on June 3. DA Cacace said: “The indifference shown by Mr. Columbus as he allegedly endangered the lives of multiple people, including his own minor children, is difficult to fathom. I am only relieved that no one was killed during the defendant’s reckless spree on the Saw Mill and that the police managed to apprehend him without further incident. We must ensure that the public roadways remain safe for all of us to use, which necessitates removing the most dangerous, reckless motorists from the streets and holding them accountable.”
According to a felony complaint, on May 2, at approximately 8:05 p.m., the defendant evinced a depraved indifference to human life by recklessly engaging in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another person when he operated a 2007 BMW on the Saw Mill River Parkway at a high rate of speed, swerving in and out of the two lanes of the highway.
While he was operating the vehicle, the defendant nearly struck a police vehicle and a civilian vehicle and drove straight through a red light, the felony complaint alleges, without slowing down or stopping. After being directed to stop by a police vehicle using lights and sirens, the defendant began to flee with his three minor children in the car, accelerating the BMW to speeds in excess of 25 mph above the posted speed limit, according to the felony complaint.
The defendant ultimately crashed the BMW and disregarded multiple orders to exit the vehicle, the felony complaint alleges. This case was investigated by the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Greenburgh Branch Chief Jamie Fair and Assistant District Attorney Isabella Oppedisano.