Above: Sean K. Moorhus and Kevin R. Hunter. Mugshots via the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team.
When members of Ulster County's drug task force interrupted a heroin deal in the parking lot of the Hurley Ridge Market on Tuesday, Jan. 27, two suspects tried to run them over, police say.
Responding to a complaint, members of the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) approached two cars in the parking lot of the supermarket on Route 375 in the town of Hurley around 1 p.m., according to a press release.
Police say that 40-year-old Sean K. Moorhus of Saugerties and 36-year-old Kevin Ronald Hunter Jr. of Woodstock were in the vehicles, conducting a heroin transaction.
When the police walked up on foot, Moorhus and Hunter allegedly "placed the vehicles into gear and violently reversed toward the Detectives," the press release states.
Then things got scary. From the press release:
One vehicle, a red Ford Ranger truck, sped toward a member, causing the officer to jump out of the way and then fled northbound out of the parking lot. The other vehicle, a tan Toyota 4Runner, attempted to strike several officers and one officer became entangled in the vehicle as it spun at a high rate of speed through the parking lot and then struck a tree. The driver of the Toyota, Sean Kevin Moorhus, then attempted to flee from the vehicle but was taken into custody as he continued to resist arrest and fight with officers.
Hunter, who had reportedly driven the Ford Ranger truck that rushed one of the officers, was quickly arrested by the New York State Police after allegedly fleeing the scene.
Moorhus was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, all felonies, as well as a slew of other more minor charges, including driving while ability impaired by drugs. Hunter was charged with felony reckless endangerment and other charges. Both men are being held without bail at the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center.
Members of the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics team sustained minor injuries, according to the press release.
