CANTON, New York (WWNY) – Law enforcement officers were hurt, and police cars were damaged over the weekend as a suspect fled a crime scene in St. Lawrence County.
It all began with a report of a possible burglary at 1 a.m. Saturday at the Sunoco location on East Main Street in Canton.
According to Canton Police Chief James Santimaw, Officer James Gibson was the first to arrive.
He said Gibson got out of his patrol car and a suspect charged at him, prompting the police officer to tase him.
Santimaw said the suspect pulled out the probes and got into a van.
Deputy Seth Carr from the county sheriff’s office arrived and had just gotten out of his patrol vehicle when the suspect drove the van at Carr.
Santimaw said the van crashed into the deputy’s vehicle, struck Carr, and flung him over the vehicle and onto the pavement.
The suspect then drove the van into a Canton police car that had just arrived. (See a picture of the car at the bottom of this story.)
The van took off on Route 11 toward DeKalb.
According to Santimaw, state police deployed spike strips which blew out the van’s tires. However, the suspect continued onto County Route 17 in DeKalb where police boxed in the van.
Santimaw said the suspect was taken into custody.
A sheriff’s deputy, Travis Stephenson, suffered a cut to his arm at the Route 17 scene. He and Deputy Carr were taken to Canton-Potsdam Hospital where they were treated and released.
Charges are pending against the suspect, whose name will be released once he’s formally arrested.
Santimaw said he was pleased with the cooperation between his department, the sheriff’s office, and state police.
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