1 Person Killed During Wild High-Speed Chase With Newburgh Police

Police say they had to dodge stolen dirt bikes that were thrown at them on Route 9W.

On Monday, Luis Colon, 27, of Newark, was arraigned before Town of Newburgh Judge Jude Martini on charges of manslaughter and unlawfully fleeing a police officer.

It's alleged that Colon fled police in 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 at the intersection of South Robinson Avenue and South Williams Street in the City of Newburgh around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.

The van crashed, killing one of the passengers and hospitalizing Colon and a second passenger, police say. Police didn't release any information about the person who died.

About 10 minutes before the fatal accident officers were dispatched to a call of 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 a van that was in the parking lot from leaving, the van evaded the police, who pursued the vehicle into the City of Newburgh, officials say.

The felony complaint charging Colon alleges that at times he was driving the van at speeds that exceeded 90 miles per hour, which was over twenty-five miles per hour above the speed limit, and that Colon disobeyed traffic control devices, including a red traffic light at the intersection of South Robinson Avenue and South Williams Street in the City of Newburgh. While going through that intersection the van being driven by Colon struck another vehicle, then struck several parked vehicles before hitting a utility pole, which caused Colon’s vehicle to roll.

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 say. Town of Newburgh Police recovered many of the discarded dirt bikes from Route 9W.

Bail was set for Colon in the amount of $250,000 cash, or $500,000 fully secured bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond.