Suffolk County Police today arrested a man for crashing a stolen vehicle into a police vehicle earlier this month.
Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers pulled over a U-Haul van on Howells Road in Bay Shore on August 16 at approximately 4 p.m. The vehicle had been reported stolen. When officers approached the vehicle, the driver, Emmitt Smith, reversed the van, intentionally struck an unmarked police vehicle and fled.
The van was located by Warrant Enforcement Section officers in West Babylon on August 25 and impounded.
Third Squad detectives, assisted by the Property Auto Crimes Unit, the United States Marshals Service, and New York State Parole located Smith on Booker Avenue in Wyandanch at approximately 7 a.m. and arrested him.
Smith, 43, was charged with Criminal Mischief 3rd Degree and a New York State Parole Warrant. He was also charged with three counts of Grand Larceny 4th Degree and eight counts of Petit Larceny for stealing merchandise from multiple stores throughout Suffolk County between April and August.
The investigation into the stolen vehicle is ongoing.
Smith was held overnight at the Third Precinct and is scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on September 1.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.