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Luis Colon, 27, of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested on Monday, Dec. 7, and charged with manslaughter and unlaw fleeing a police officer, said the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
The incident took place around 1:34 a.m., Monday, at the intersection of South Robinson Avenue and South Williams Street in the City of Newburgh, police said.
According to officials, Colon allegedly had been driving a van at a high rate of speed, ignoring lane markings and traffic devices in an attempt to flee pursuing Town of Newburgh Police Officers.
The van crashed, killing one of the passengers and injuring Colon and a second passenger.
Minutes earlier, police had been called to a burglary in progress at “Big Boyz Toys,” a dealership that sells ATVs, dirt bikes, and other motorsports vehicles on Route 9W in the Town of Newburgh.
When police tried to block an Econoline van that was in the parking lot from leaving, the van evaded the police, who pursued the vehicle into the City of Newburgh.
During the chase, which reached speeds of more than 90 miles per hour, before he struck another vehicle, then struck several parked vehicles, and then slammed into a utility pole, which caused Colon’s vehicle to roll, the complaint said
During the course of the police chase on State Route 9W, a passenger in the van opened the back door of the van and threw the stolen dirt bikes and other vehicles out of the van in an apparent attempt to slow the pursuing police cars.
Police recovered many of the discarded dirt bikes from Route 9W.
The Town of Newburgh Police Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office is requesting that any member of the public who finds evidence of the crime, including what appears to be pieces from motorsports vehicles on Route 9W, or has video of any portion of the pursuit to please contact the Town of Newburgh Police Department at (845) 564-1100.
Colon in the amount of $250,000 cash, or $500,000 fully secured bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
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