BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Rochester teen has pleaded guilty to causing a crash that injured a Buffalo police officer.
The 16-year-old pleaded guilty in Erie County Court on Wednesday to one count of assault on a peace officer, police officer, firefighter or emergency medical services professional (class "C" violent felony) and one county of unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the second degree (class "D" felony).
Police report that on June 3, at around 1 p.m., Buffalo Police responded to a call about four people in a car with a gun at Crossman Avenue and Heminway Street. When a police officer approached a car that matched the description, the teen who was driving the car drove away at a high speed toward Cheektowaga.
The teen crashed into two cars and a utility pole on Mafalda Drive while fleeing. The pole crashed and fell through the front windshield of the police officer's patrol vehicle.
Police officer Jonathan Negron was seriously injured and knocked unconscious from the crash. He was hospitalized after the incident for several weeks with serious head and spinal injuries and is continuing to recover from them.
The 16-year-old and the three other people fled from the vehicle and were quickly arrested. No weapons were recovered from the car of the surrounding area.
“Instead of stopping the vehicle to allow police to investigate, this adolescent offender sped off through the Buffalo and Cheektowaga, putting the lives of everyone on those streets in danger. His reckless actions caused serious injuries to a Buffalo Police officer, who could have been killed by the impact of that crash. I wish Officer Negron a speedy recovery. I hope that he feels that justice has been served by this individual pleading guilty to all of the charges against him,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement.
The teen faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing at the end of October. He remains held at Erie County Youth Service Center.