Massena Man Charged After Chase
MASSENA - A Massena man was jailed on $1,500 cash or $3,000 bail bond Wednesday morning after being charged with several criminal charges as well as 25 traffic tickets stemming from a series of incidents that took place Tuesday morning and ended when he crashed the vehicle while being pursued by police.
Massena Village Police charged Charles D. Sherman Jr., 23, of 66 Woodlawn Ave., Apt. 2, Massena, with two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless driving and unlawfully fleeing from a police officer as well as the 25 vehicle and traffic law infractions. He was arraigned by Massena Village Justice Eric J. Gustafson and was remanded to the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility pending further court action.
Court documents report Sherman took his girlfriend's vehicle without her permission at approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday from a residence at 56 Perkins Road.
Police said they encountered Sherman in Ebony Turner's 2006 Pontiac at approximately 2:30 a.m. Tuesday on Willow Street and activated their lights and sirens, but they charged the Massena man refused to comply with their orders to pull the vehicle to the side of the road.
They began a pursuit in the Willow Street area that moved across the Alcoa Bridge and the westbound lane of state Route 37 before the vehicle crashed after striking a snow bank near 36 Bayley Road. Police said Turner's vehicle as well as a flower bed, miniature pine tree and the lawn at that Bayley Road location were damaged as a result of the one-vehicle accident.
Police said Sherman then fled the scene.
Village police received information Wednesday morning that he was sleeping at his residence and took him into custody shortly before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at his apartment on Woodlawn Avenue.
Tickets indicate Sherman was traveling at speeds above 50 mph during some portions of the pursuit in the village of Massena. Massena Village Police Chief Timmy J. Currier said his initial review indicates speeds up to 60 mph during the pursuit. "We are currently reviewing the case to determine if our officers acted within policy. That's standard procedure when we are involved in a pursuit," he noted.
