Driver fled traffic stop, struck two cars in pursuit through Sullivan, Orange counties

A driver was charged with felony reckless endangerment on Friday when a police pursuit that began in Sullivan County ended with a crash on a thruway entrance ramp in Orange County.

New York State Police said troopers from the Wurtsboro barracks responded just before noon Friday to a report of a gray convertible sedan operating at a slow rate of speed and failing to maintain its lane on Route 209 in the town of Mamakating.

A trooper located the vehicle, a 2011 Mercedes Benz convertible, traveling south on Route 209, and observed it swerving into oncoming traffic before swerving back into the southbound lane.

A trooper stopped the convertible, and while speaking to the driver, Martin Gjurashaj, 45, of Yonkers, Gjurashaj placed the vehicle in drive and fled the scene.

Police said the vehicle entered Route 17, traveling east at a high rate of speed. The vehicle struck a marked state police patrol car on Route 17 when it reached the town of Monroe and continued going east.

The pursuit continued until it ended on the northbound entrance ramp to the thruway, when the Mercedes struck an uninvolved vehicle.

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Gjurashaj and a passenger in the car were both taken to Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown for treatment of minor injuries.

Gjurashaj was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony; and unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, driving while ability is impaired by drugs, second-degree obstructing governmental administration, and fourth-degree criminal mischief, all misdemeanors. He was sent to the Sullivan County jail pending further court action.

His bail information and the name of his attorney were not immediately available.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Driver fled traffic stop, struck two cars in pursuit through Sullivan, Orange counties