Westchester County Police arrested two men and recovered a stolen car and a loaded 9 mm handgun yesterday after the suspects fled from police in an effort to elude capture.
About noon yesterday, the Real Time Crime Center at County Police headquarters broadcast an alert that a stolen vehicle was traveling northbound on Interstate 684. New York State Police located the vehicle and attempted to stop it but the driver failed to comply. The County Police Aviation Unit helicopter and a County Police officer joined the state police in following the vehicle on to Interstate 84 and terminated the pursuit when the vehicle entered Connecticut.
A short time later, County Police located the vehicle traveling southbound on I-684 and again attempted a traffic stop with NYSP troopers. The driver continued south on I-684 and on to the Hutchinson River Parkway, where the vehicle crashed near the Interstate 287 interchange in Harrison. Both men jumped out of the car and ran off, but were apprehended after a foot pursuit.
Angel Vasquez, 18, and Saevian Watts, 20, both of Suffolk County, New York, were booked at County Police headquarters in Hawthorne on charges of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 3rd and Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd Degree, felonies; and Resisting Arrest, a misdemeanor. Vazquez, the driver, was also charged with Unlawful Fleeing a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle, a misdemeanor.
In a separate incident yesterday, a County Police officer traveling through Yonkers spotted a man attempting to steal a catalytic converter from a vehicle on Emerson Street and took him into custody. The suspect climbed out from under a Hyundai sedan when he became aware he was being observed and attempted to drive away. After making a traffic stop, the officer found cutting tools, and detected a strong odor of marijuana, inside the vehicle. An examination of the undercarriage of the Hyundai revealed evidence of an effort to cut the catalytic converter off the vehicle.
Anthony Jameade, 27, of Baychester Avenue, Bronx, was charged with Auto Striping 3rd Degree, Criminal Mischief and Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, misdemeanors. A passenger in his vehicle was detained but released without charges.
