NEW YORK, NY — A Connecticut man is facing numerous criminal charges after he led Westchester County Police on a chase Wednesday night on the Hutchinson River Parkway, rammed two police cars and injured several officers before being subdued and placed under arrest.
Three police officers – two from Westchester County and one from Harrison – were injured in the incident, which occurred about 9 p.m.
James Rozsa, 24, of Ingalls Avenue, Norwalk, was charged with Assault 2nd Degree, a felony, and Reckless Endangerment, Unlawful Fleeing a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle, Reckless Driving and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle 3rd Degree, misdemeanors.
He was also charged with Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, a violation, after a small amount of marijuana was found in his car. He was issued multiple summonses for various Vehicle & Traffic Law violations, including speeding, following too closely, unsafe lane change, driving on the shoulder and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.
Rozsa will be arraigned this morning in Harrison Town Court.
The incident began shortly before 9 p.m. when a motorist flagged down Westchester County Police Officer Jerome Schulman III on the eastbound Cross County Parkway in Mount Vernon to report that a white sedan had rear-ended her car and fled the scene.
Schulman began a canvass of the Cross County Parkway and the northbound Hutchinson River Parkway when he observed a white Honda sedan traveling at a high-rate of speed near Wilmot Road in New Rochelle. The driver was weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off other cars and changing lanes without signaling.
Schulman activated his patrol car’s lights and sirens but the driver of the white sedan refused to pull over. The driver eventually stopped briefly near Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale but took off again. At North Street in Harrison, the sedan drove on the shoulder and on the grass to get around slower-moving traffic. In this area, Rozsa rammed two Westchester County police cars and attempted to strike a Harrison Police Department patrol car.
He was eventually forced to a stop near Lincoln Avenue in Harrison, where he was combative with multiple Westchester County and Harrison police officers while being placed under arrest. Three officers, two from the county and one from Harrison, were injured during the incident and were treated at local hospitals. The two damaged county police vehicles were towed from the scene.