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06-09-2016, 08:35 AM
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GTA Irl in N.Y.
Police arrested a man after he allegedly fled cops trying to pull him over in Washington Heights, then rammed his way out of being boxed in in Inwood, slamming into a police car, a cab, and several parked cars in the process. The NYPD said that officers tried to pull over John Maldonado, 35, as he drove his Land Rover SUV down Broadway near 173rd Street at about 7:30 p.m. on Monday after he allegedly turned at a "No Turns" sign. In the subsequent chase, Maldonado allegedly ended up driving the wrong way down one-lane Henshaw Street at Dyckman Street in Inwood, between Inwood Hill and Fort Tryon parks. Video of the chaotic scene shows the driver of the SUV gunning it forward and in reverse, bashing the vehicle into the squad car, cab, and everything else in its way until finally forcing the ride through a narrow space between the taxi and parked cars. A series of pops and the sound of glass breaking are audible in the video, and bystanders can be heard yelling "Shoot him!" and "Shoot his tires!" Maldonado allegedly fled the Land Rover on foot when officers approached him. He resisted arrest, flailing his arm and kicking his legs, officials said. Officers found a crack pipe behind the driver’s seat, according to the District Attorney's office. Maldonado was charged with two counts of assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a controlled substance, fleeing an officer and reckless driving, according to prosecutors. A passenger was also arrested for possession of a controlled substance, according to police, though her name does not appear in court records. Court records show that Maldonado is being held on $20,000 bond, and also facing felony reckless endangerment and assault charges, including a count of assaulting and injuring a person 65 years or older, and misdemeanor crack possession, fleeing police, and resisting arrest charges. New Yorkers said on Twitter that the smash-up looked like something out of a Grand Theft Auto video-game. |