ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Rochester police and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office held a conference Friday afternoon after a stolen vehicle detail in Rochester Thursday.
As a result of that detail, eight stolen vehicles were recovered and nine people were arrested. All of the people arrested, some teenagers, had previous run-ins with law enforcement, investigators said. The detail included several separate investigations.
The first incident:
This all started around 3 p.m. Thursday. A Hyundai Santa Fe reported stolen out of Parma earlier in the day, had been spotted by an Ogden police officer parked on Smith Street. Three people inside were reportedly sleeping when the officer approached. Police said the driver quickly tried to take off, backing into a Greece Police Department patrol car before driving onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting a deputy.
Officers chased the car for about ten minutes. Once near the Campbell Street Recreation Center, the driver ran off, leaving the car, according to police. Officers arrested the two passengers there, who also had outstanding felony warrants. The driver was found nearby with the help of a Rochester police K9 unit. All three people arrested are Rochester residents.
The two passengers were identified by police as Sara Mullen and Cody Newland, both 31 years old. Mullen had a warrant for robbery in the first degree and kidnapping in the second degree from an incident in Gates. Newland had a 12-count warrant, which included criminal possession of stolen property. He had also been involved in a police chase before, investigators said.
The driver in this case, identified by police as Jonathan Rivera-Lopez, 38, was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal possession of stolen property and multiple traffic violations. He was arraigned Friday morning and later released. According to Captain Greg Bello with the Rochester Police Department, no bail was set this morning despite this suspect having numerous previous pursuits with law enforcement.
“So, he had the warrant from Livingston County for unlawful imprisonment as well as chase-related things from back earlier this year,” Bello explained. “We had a chase with him in May and we wrote him appearance tickets after that chase, as we were required to do, he did not show up to court in June from that, and so he was served with all of this yesterday, and Mr. Rivera-Lopez is free right now.”
Second incident:
In the middle of the previously mentioned pursuit, a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy watched as a stolen Kia sped passed him on Jay Street in Rochester. Another pursuit then began.
Around Rockview Terrace and Otis Street, the driver of another stolen vehicle – this time, a Hyundai, had tried to intervene, attempting to ram into the pursuing patrol car, nearly taking that deputy off the road, according to the sheriff’s office. Eventually, the driver of the initial stolen car, the Kia, crashed in the area of Santee Street. Two people ran from the vehicle, one of whom ended up jumping into the Hyundai, deputies said. The Hyundai then crashed in the area of Lyell Avenue and Cameron Street, and two people were arrested. The third person was later found with the help of K9s. All three were charged.
Deputies said the 17-year-old driver of the Kia was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The girl, on parole, had a warrant for a previous robbery conviction. She was taken to the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center.
Another 17-year-old was identified as the driver of the Hyundai. He was charged with attempted assault on a police officer and criminal possession of stolen property. He was taken to the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center as well.
The third suspect, Danaisha Robinson, 23, was identified as the passenger in the Kia. She was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and issued an appearance ticket.
Third incident:
Hours later, around 6:15 p.m., a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy watched two stolen vehicles go by on Genesee Street in Rochester. Deputies tried to stop a stolen 2017 Hyundai Elantra. Two 17-year-olds were eventually arrested after they ran from the vehicle on Flint Street.
Both were charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and taken to the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center. One of the teens is on parole for robbery, the other had an ankle monitor as part of their probation supervision, deputies said.
Fourth Incident:
About a half-hour later, officers came across a stolen 2019 Hyundai Elantra being driven unsafely on Arnett Boulevard in Rochester. The vehicle was later found crashed near the intersection of Love Street and Taylor Street.
A 15-year-old and a 14-year-old were both arrested. They’ve been charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and taken to the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center.
A discussion on solutions:
In each case, investigators emphasized that the individuals arrested were all repeat offenders.
“We were just discussing this a week ago with Theodice Parks there, right? On parole, running from the police, and had been arrested a few weeks before that,” Bello said.
Parks, 17, is accused of driving the stolen Kia that crashed into an elderly man in Brighton last week, killing him. That man was 92-year-old Thomas Chase.
‘He still had more to give’: Friends remember Thomas Chase, victim killed in Brighton crash “Again, a stolen Kia, stolen Hyundais, and they were fleeing from our officers and an incredible man lost his life as a result of it,” Bello explained. “Every vehicle chase has a risk. To everybody involved.”
According to investigators, social media is partially to blame for the rise in car thefts. Lt. John Watson with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office pointed to one video application in particular.
“It’s just easy. There’s TikToks out there that started this whole thing. They can steal these cars in a matter of 20 or 30 seconds.”
Legal experts discuss bail reform after teen causes deadly crash with stolen car Making things all the more frustrating, investigators said, is the fact that it just seems to keep happening. During Friday’s press conference, Lt. Watson in particular voiced concerns over current legislation. It’s something some law enforcement personnel have criticized in recent weeks. Watson specifically talked about the release of Jonathan Rivera-Lopez Friday morning.
“We continue to go out there and chase cars and run towards gunfire and do all we can. At some point, you hope the system kicks in and does what its supposed to do, and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, the system failed.” He said. “He’s going to re-offend, we’re going to end up chasing him again, and we’re just going to have to hope at that point that the result is different than what it was today.”
Captain Bello said, there are programs in place to help ease the burden, but some of the most helpful have been for kids specifically.
“The JEDS program was a godsend to this community last summer. With getting these kids connected to services, getting them connected immediately versus days, weeks later that these appearance tickets were often issued.”
Bello also said, the number of violent crimes and car thefts are actually down across Rochester, but, he said, clearly – something is still not working.
“If you look at our stolen vehicle numbers, they’re at about half of what they were last year,” Bello said. “There’s lots of reasons why they’re down, but they’re still not down enough.”
In terms of the chase itself, investigators explained that there is a process that goes into how they decide when it is safe enough to begin the pursuit. A lot of it, they said, boils down to the supervisors.
“A lot of times we are not directly involved in the chase, we have to ask the deputies, ‘what’s your speed, what are the traffic conditions, are people trying to drive down a one-way street,'” Watson began. “We have to take in all of the information and use that to the best of our ability to make an educated decision on – are we going to keep chasing these people or are we going to let them go and try and catch them next time?”
Amid this multi-agency detail Thursday, a completely separate chase and crash with New York State Police took place in Rochester. In that case, five teenagers were arrested, and multiple guns were recovered.
You can watch the full press conference here:
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