9,000 Hits of Heroin Found in Suspect’s Car
A Massachusetts man has been arrested for the attempted murder of a Westchester County police officer last week. Kevin Santos, 22, of Springfield, Mass., was ordered to be held without bail at his arraignment on multiple felony charges, including attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault on a police officer, first- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (intent to sell) and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Santos was arrested in June after he drove off at high speed as a county police officer was partially inside his car and attempting to take him into custody. The officer was able to climb inside Santos’ Honda Accord to avoid being dragged, and a struggle occurred as the vehicle reached speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
The driver’s front door remained open during the incident, in which Santos is accused of swerving across both lanes of the highway and onto the shoulder, accelerating and then braking hard, in an apparent effort to eject the officer from the car.
The struggle continued for three-quarters of a mile, when the officer was able to bring the car to a halt. The vehicle was then boxed in by a county police patrol car as the driver attempted to take off again.
Following the incident, the Honda was impounded and towed back to police headquarters in Hawthorne, where 9,000 glassine envelopes of heroin were discovered inside the car. The narcotics were found in a bag on the floor of the front passenger side of the car.
“The actions of this driver put our officer in grave danger,” said Commissioner Thomas Gleason. “It is fortunate that he was not seriously injured or killed.”
The incident began about 11:30 a.m. Monday when the officer pulled over the Honda for a traffic violation on the northbound Hutch at North Avenue in New Rochelle. After determining that the driver did not have a valid license, the officer asked him to step out of the car. The driver initially complied but then jumped back into the Honda and the struggle ensued.
That struggle put the officer hanging on for his life as the car sped along the Hutchinson River Parkway.
The county officer, who is not being identified at this time, was taken to Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow with an injury to one of his hands and arm. He was treated and released.
