HAWTHORNE – A Brooklyn man who sped away from a traffic stop on Friday night in Yonkers was apprehended while he attempted to hide in a parking lot in Hawthorne. The unfortunate suspect had unknowingly chosen the parking lot of the Westchester County Police Department headquarters during his dangerous game of hide-and-seek.
Richard Whyte, 41, was charged with felony assault and the misdemeanors of resisting arrest, reckless driving, and unlawful fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle. He also faces violations of disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration as a result of his actions on Friday night. A check of the New York State Penal Law failed to produce any charges that could be filed against Whyte for his display of incompetence when choosing a hiding spot.
Police said a black Mercedes with Tennessee plates passed a county officer around 9 p.m. traveling northbound on the Sawmill Parkway. When the officer attempted a traffic stop, the driver sped away, reaching speeds of 100 MPH.
The pursuing officer lost sight of the vehicle but it was later spotted entering the northbound Taconic State Parkway. The Mercedes exited at Route 117 and once again was out of sight as officers canvassed the area.
A short time later, Westchester Police Accountant Lou Codella, a civilian, was leaving work when he observed a black sedan turn into headquarters from Route 9A at a high rate of speed. According to police, Codella stopped his car to assess the situation, thinking the driver was perhaps in need of emergency assistance. He then observed two marked police vehicles passing headquarters traveling southbound on Route 9A with their lights and sirens activated.
Suspecting that the vehicle was attempting to elude the police, Codella returned to the headquarters building to report his observations.
Officers quickly confronted the driver in the lot, where he had just replaced the Tennessee license plates with Connecticut plates. Whyte rammed a patrol vehicle several times with his Mercedes before attempting to run away on foot. He was taken into custody after a struggle with multiple officers and personnel from other departments working in the Westchester County Real-Time Crime Center.
After capture, Whyte was walked the very short distance from the visitor lot to the booking room. It was only then that he realized he tried to hide in the police department parking lot.
Codella has a history of helping police outside of keeping their budget in line. In 2007 he was officially recognized after he physically intervened to protect a person from being stabbed in a road rage incident in White Plains. In that situation, he held the suspect at bay until police arrived. Codella was presented with the County Police Department’s Civilian Award of Merit for his brave actions that day.
The department noted that Codella has done volunteer work for more than 40 years as a chaplain with juvenile offenders and at-risk youth at Woodfield detention facility and Children’s Village.
