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YONKERS, N.Y. One motorcyclist is dead and three others were arrested after a high-speed chase that began Saturday night near the Tappan Zee Bridge involving police and members of a Brooklyn bike club.
Tarrytown-based state police said Sunday that the chase started when troopers in Clarkstown attempted to pull over a group of 12 to 15 bikers, later found to be part of the Brooklyn-based 300 MC bike club, for driving too fast.
The group fled from the troopers, heading east over the Tappan Zee Bridge and onto I-287 in Westchester County, state police said.
Police said they lost sight of the group as they fled north on the Saw Mill River Parkway. A short time later, however, Westchester County Police spotted the bikers heading south on the parkway and continued the pursuit of the group.
State Police Sgt. William Collins said troopers caught up to one biker near Elmsford when he lost control of his bike and slammed into the guardrail. The driver, Hassan Miller, 46, of Leroy, N.J., then head-butted an officer who tried to arrest him, creating a cut that required four stitches, Collins said.
In the meantime, the rest of the group continued south on the Saw Mill River Parkway, reaching speeds up to 100 miles per hour, weaving in and out of traffic, and passing cars on the shoulder, Collins said.
Yonkers police, who were among several local departments that responded to the call, said three of the bikers entered Yonkers on North Broadway, where city officers were waiting.
One of them, Dennis Norwood, 51, of Brooklyn, lost control of his motorcycle near North Broadway and Executive Boulevard and fell to the ground, police said. Norwood immediately stood up and fought with officers before he was arrested, police said.
A second motorcyclist, Kenneth Hammond, 49, of Elizabeth, N.J., lost control of his bike in the area of 919 N. Broadway and also fell to the ground, police said. He was arrested without further incident, police said.
The third biker crashed into a Yonkers police car at a roadblock set up near North Broadway and Lake Avenue, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police are withholding the persons name pending notification of his family.
Accident investigators were called to the scene, and the incident also was being investigated by the Yonkers police Internal Affairs Division as of Sunday afternoon.
Yonkers police said four city police officers were injured during the incident, and all were placed off duty.
Miller was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and unlawfully fleeing a police officer, both felonies. He was also charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors; and reckless driving, unlawful possession of marijuana, and numerous vehicle and traffic violations.
Norwood was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and unlawfully fleeing a police officer, both felonies; resisting arrest, a misdemeanor; and reckless driving and numerous vehicle and traffic violations.
Hammond was charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer, a felony; and numerous vehicle and traffic violations. Both Norwood and Hammond were to be arraigned Sunday in Yonkers City Court.
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