KINGSTON – The Shandaken man, who left home on foot after an argument
with his father over the amount of alcohol he consumed, then stole an
SUV, leading police on a multi-jurisdictional chase crashing into police
cars, was sentenced in Ulster County Court on Monday to one-and-one-third
to four years in state prison. Brandon Rifenburg pled guilty to grand
larceny. He also pled guilty to unlawful fleeing a police officer in a
motor vehicle and was sentenced to one year in the Ulster County Jail.
Rifenburg was finally stopped in the April 15, 2014 incident after he
ran over spike strips blowing out three tires and driving on rims until
he lost control of the vehicle.
During the police chase, officers received information that he may have
been armed with a gun, so after he crashed the vehicle into an embankment,
he was shot by a deputy sheriff as he got out.
An Ulster County grand jury cleared the deputy of any wrongdoing.
