Rifenburg
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. For that, he 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.
