Bloodhound helped locate driver of stolen vehicle, police say
LIVINGSTON, N.Y. >> A 24-year-old central New York man was tracked down with the assistance of a K9 bloodhound after he was found in Columbia County to be driving a stolen vehicle, state police said Thursday.
Calvin Lipscomb, of Camillus, near Syracuse, was charged Wednesday, Dec. 11, with the felony of possession of stolen property and the misdemeanors of criminal impersonation and reckless driving. He also was charged with “numerous” vehicle and traffic law infractions, police said.
Shortly after 11 p.m., Lipscomb was stopped for speeding on state Route 82, police said. After providing a false identification card, Lipscomb sped away and led troopers on a chase that ended on Spring Road, police said. They said Lipscomb then got out of the vehicle, which had been stolen from Westchester County, and fled on foot.
Trooper Justin Bell and his K9 bloodhound, Tilly, responded to the scene and, with the assistance of other troopers, tracked Lipscomb for 3 miles, police said. They said Lipscomb was found hiding in the rafters of a barn on Blue Valley Road in Livingston, where he was taken into custody without further incident.
“The suspect was not from the local area, had no idea where he was, and the temperatures were in the teens,” state police Capt. David Kolb, the zone commander in Columbia County, said in a press release. “Trooper Bell and his partner Tilly are excellent at tracking and, through a team effort, this incident was successfully resolved with no one being hurt.”
Lipscomb was arraigned in Claverack Town Court and sent to Columbia County Jail in lieu of bail. The bail amount was not provided.