A three-county police pursuit involving a vehicle fire prompted a lockout at John Jay High School on Sept. 15.
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were advised around 1:15 p.m. that day to be on the lookout for a vehicle that was being pursued for a Westchester County theft and had crossed into Putnam County by U.S. Route 9 in the Town of Philipstown.
A deputy stopped the vehicle near Indian Brook Road and made contact with the driver, who deputies said then drove away and was pursued by deputies northbound into Fishkill and onto Interstate 84 going east.
The vehicle ran off the road and burst into flames west of the Lime Kiln Road exit.
Two passengers in the vehicle were apprehended, but the driver, whom deputies identified as 23-year-old Brandon C. Waller, of Brooklyn, ran into the woods.
A perimeter was established by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance from New York State Police, and the East Fishkill and Fishkill police departments. Waller was taken into custody around 4:30 p.m.
John Jay High School, which sits about 2 miles from the I-84 exit, was on lockout beginning at 2:13 p.m. as a safety precaution, and delayed dismissing students that day until 3:42 p.m. The district said it was informed at 3:37 p.m. that police activity in the area had concluded.
All after-school activities were canceled at John Jay High School and many elementary bus stalls were also delayed.
East Fishkill Police Department had extra officers on site for dismissal and some buses were escorted by a police cruiser.
Waller has been charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree criminal impersonation, second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, third-degree unlawful fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle and reckless driving. Waller also received numerous tickets for vehicle and traffic violations.
He is scheduled to appear in Town of Philipstown court at a later date.
The two passengers in the vehicle were not charged.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Three-county police chase prompted John Jay High School lockout: What to know
Reporting by Nickie Hayes, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
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