Orange County Man Guilty of Injuring Police Officers and Others In High Speed Drunken Crash
An Orange County man was found guilty of over 20 counts following a 2014 drunken highs-speed chase that injured several police officers and more.
On Monday in Orange County Court, 29-year-old Christopher Peloso, of Campbell Hall was convicted of attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer or a peace officer, four-counts of assault, eight-counts of reckless endangerment, three-counts of second-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree criminal mischief, two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and resisting arrest.
According to the prosecution, just after 1 a.m. on December 21, 2014, Peloso fled in his Ford pick-up truck after police tried to pull him over.
A high-speed chase ended on Route 747 in Orange County after Peloso purposely rammed into three police cars and another car.
The other car was severely damaged. The two injured occupants of vehicle escaped without suffering more serious injuries, officials say.
Two police officers were injured in the incident. One Town of Newburgh Police Officer suffered injuries which ended his career as a police officer.
A chemical test of Peloso’s breath revealed that he had.08 blood-alcohol level.
“Not only were two police officers injured as a result of this defendant’s futile attempt to escape being arrested, but two civilian motorists were also injured,” District Attorney David M. Hoovler stated. “This defendant’s intentional actions ended one police officer’s career and endangered the lives of many others.”
Peloso faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced on Jan. 20.