Fleeing suspect rams into police car
Driver had been previously arraigned in unsolved fatal shooting in Cohoes last June
A 20-year-old man was arrested Thursday morning after he fled from police and his vehicle crashed head-on into a State Police vehicle on Third Avenue.
At least two state troopers were injured and a U.S. Marshals Service multi-agency task force member shot at the suspect; no one was struck and the injuries to the officers are not considered life-threatening.
The suspect, Joseph T. Evans Jr., had been arraigned last November in Albany County on felony weapons charges in connection with the June 30 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Tyshawn Q. Daniels in Cohoes. No one has been charged with Daniels’ killing and investigators believe Daniels was not armed and may have been caught in crossfire.
Evans, who has ties to Cohoes, was released from Albany County jail on Nov. 18 after posting $25,000 bail.
State troopers and U.S. marshals had been searching for Evans for at least several days. Law enforcement sources said he is not a suspect in the March 8 shooting in Troy that left a 12-year-old paralyzed.
At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, State Police — with the assistance of the
U.S. Marshals Service task force — attempted to serve a warrant on Evans, who State Police say was wanted in connection with a sealed indictment from Albany County Court.
Task force members were attempting to make contact with Evans when he entered a vehicle and tried to flee, State Police said. As he drove away, officers say Evans almost struck a task force member who was on foot. The task force member discharged a weapon, but did not strike Evans, State Police said.
State Police said Evans continued driving forward and struck an unmarked vehicle. State Police said they are investigating the incident.
People who live near the scene of Thursday’s crash and gunfire in Lansingburgh described a chaotic scene.
Two residents on Third Avenue, who asked to not be identified, said they heard a black Chevrolet sedan involved in the crash race down the street. Both neighbors said they heard a loud crash and gunshots.
When one neighbor looked outside her secondfloor window, she said she saw police vehicles quickly surround the suspect’s car.
She said officers drew their weapons as the male suspect got out of the car. Officers placed the man in handcuffs and put him in a Troy police vehicle before troopers moved him to one of their vehicles.
The injuries to the State Police were not life-threatening, a spokeswoman for the agency said.
Daniels, the victim of the homicide in Cohoes, played basketball at Cohoes High School. He was shot just after 2 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon last June while standing on the corner of Lansing and Schuyler streets, a few blocks from his residence. He died two hours later while undergoing surgery at Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Immediately after the shooting, Cohoes acting Police Chief Tom Ross had said detectives were seeking at least two males, a shooter and a driver.
In a statement in November, Albany County District Attorney David Soares said the homicide investigation “uncovered the involvement of the charged parties, and the grand jury returned the illegal weapons possession charges in relation to the incident. No other charges are expected at this time.”