Sentencing For Newburgh Man Who Fled Cops, Abandoned Weapon

A Newburgh man who previously entered into a guilty plea for charges stemming from two incidents last year has been sentenced in Orange County Court. The defendant was involved in multiple incidents before police apprehended him.

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Vehicle Stop Leads to Suspect Fleeing Police

Police records indicate that on March 1, 2024, a vehicle was stopped by police in the City of Newburgh, and upon the driver stepping out of the car, as per police orders, a passenger got behind the wheel, put the car into drive, and fled the scene.

Mark Garcia, age 26, of Newburgh, was the alleged passenger turned driver in the March 2024 incident in the city of Newburgh. Police indicate that shortly after Garcia fled the scene of the traffic stop, the vehicle was found, not far away, but he [Garcia] was not.

A few months later, on May 11, 2024, police reports indicate that they observed 'Garcia engaging in what appeared to be a hand-to-hand narcotics transaction,' also in the city of Newburgh.

The officers were reportedly aware of the pending charges from the initial incident in March involving Garcia, and upon approaching him following the 'hand-to-hand' incident, caused him to run. Police reports indicate the following:

While running, Garcia dropped a gun, which was recovered by police. Officers also recovered a loaded magazine from the weapon near where he threw the gun. Garcia was located by police a short distance away and admitted to officers that he had bought the gun.

SEE ALSO: Surprising New York State Prison Guard Update

5 Year Prison Sentence, 5 Year Post-Release Supervision

Garcia was sentenced to give years in prison, and five year post-release supervision, this comes after his guilty plea for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. During the plea proceedings, Garcia did admit to possessing the loaded firearm, and the sentencing took place on Wednesday, March 12th.

When announcing the sentence, Orange County DA Hoovler shared his gratitude for the City of Newburgh Police Department for their work.

As we so often see, dangerous firearms are illegally possessed by drug dealers as tools of the narcotics trade. Law enforcement will diligently pursue these offenders, both to rid our streets of the poison they sell and the deadly weapons they wield. I have made it a priority of my Office to vigorously prosecute the illegal possession of guns because of the deadly impact they have in our communities. We will persist in our ongoing campaign against dangerous offenders who commit violent felonies.