Police: Man tries pushing Nissan into Peconic River after carjacking
A Riverhead man led police on a chase along the Peconic riverfront early Thursday after he allegedly carjacked a woman’s vehicle at a nearby gas station and then tried to push the car into the river, state police said.
A woman ran to the state police barracks in Riverside about 1:45 a.m. to report that her vehicle, a 2008 Nissan, was just stolen by force at the Valero Gas Station in the Riverside traffic circle, according to a police news release. Troopers searched the area and found a man — later identified as 29-year-old Michael Booker — trying to push the stolen vehicle into the Peconic River from the rear parking lot of the McDonalds on Flanders Road, police said.
Mr. Booker tried to run away on foot, and was “quickly apprehended,” according to the news release.
He was arrested and charged with felony robbery, felony criminal mischief, misdemeanor reckless endangerment and harassment, a violation. He was arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court and held in Suffolk County jail without bail, police said.
