A driver fleeing police pursuit in a car reported stolen from a Marbletown home was shot by a police officer on Tuesday night, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office reports.
Around 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday, police say, Ulster County 911 received a call from a woman in Marbletown who said her car had been stolen from her driveway. State troopers spotted the car on Route 213 and pursued it, but were unable to get the driver to stop. The driver fled into the city of Kingston, where troopers lost sight of the car.
An Ulster County sheriff's deputy then spotted the car, and continued the pursuit. The chase ended on Route 28 in West Hurley, when the fleeing car swerved into an Ulster County sheriff's vehicle, taking both vehicles off the road. The driver was then shot by an Ulster County officer while being taken into custody, police say.
The driver is being treated at Albany Medical Center. Police have not identified the driver, or released any information about his or her condition.
In a prepared statement, Ulster County sheriff Paul Van Blarcum said that his office would cooperate fully with an investigation of the shooting:
“I have asked the NYSP BCI, Forensic Investigations Unit and the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office to conduct the investigation into this incident. The Sheriff’s Office will participate and cooperate fully.”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office at 845-340-3280 or the New York State Police Kingston Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 845-338-1702.
Update, Thursday, April 17: The Times Herald-Record reports that according to Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright, the driver was a man in his early 20s, and that as of Wednesday he was in critical but stable condition at the Albany Medical Center. His name has not been released.
