New York State Attorney General Leticia James’ Office of Special Investigations is conducting a probe into the death of a man following an encounter with members of the state police and the City of Newburgh Police Department.
The encounter happened on Jan. 1, 2026.
According to James, shortly after 10:30 p.m. on that night, a New York State Police trooper attempted to pull over Marcus Burks on state Route 17K in Newburgh for a non-working headlight.
Burks, whose age and hometown were not provided in James’ narrative, allegedly failed to stop and continued driving at a high rate of speed away from the trooper.
The trooper followed Burks and shortly afterward came upon a crash scene involving Burks’ car and another vehicle.
Burks then got out of his car and the trooper and other responding officers attempted to restrain him. Officers used pepper spray and at least one Taser in their attempts to restrain him.
Burks became unresponsive and was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Under New York State Executive Law, the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigations assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer, peace officer or corrections officer might have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. The officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the person who dies may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or may not be in custody or incarcerated.
If the OSI’s assessment indicates the officer might have caused the death, it proceeds to conduct a full investigation.
James said the facts she stated are preliminary and subject to change.
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: AG Letitia James investigating death after police chase in Orange County
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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