A car thief led police officers on a brief chase, jumped from the moving the vehicle and escaped authorities on foot in Southampton on Thursday evening, Southampton Town Police said.
Stony Brook University police spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen being driven on Montauk Highway near the college’s Southampton campus at 8:22 p.m., police said.
When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the suspect sped off, then jumped from the moving vehicle near the corner of Middle Pond Road and Dellaria Avenue in Southampton, police said.
As the suspect ran away, the vehicle continued through the intersection, crashed through a split rail fence and drove into a mooring anchor post in the creek that connects to Middle Pond, police said.
Suffolk County police Aviation Unit, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit and Southampton village police searched for the suspect, who got away, police said.
The suspect was described as a man in his late teens to early 20s with a light complexion.
Detectives ask that anyone with information about this case call the Southampton Town Police Department at 631-728-5000, the Southampton Town Detective Division at 631-702-2230, or the Crime Tips Hotline at 631-728-3454.
