TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – A 29-year-old with a lengthy criminal record is facing several felony charges after nearly dragging a police officer to his death on Tuesday near MidHudson Regional Hospital.
John Vanleuven Jr. has been charged with the felonies of assault, assault on a police officer, reckless endangerment, grand larceny, and criminal mischief along with two misdemeanor counts of petit larceny. The charges stem from a shoplifting incident at Home Depot on North Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
Police officials say that officers responded to a report of a shoplifting at the store at approximately 1:44 p.m. The caller indicated that the subject, identified as John Van Leuven Jr., fled the store on foot with handheld power tools and indicated that a Home Depot loss prevention specialist was following the man on foot to the area of North Road and West Cedar Street.
An officer in the area saw Van Leuven run into the parking lot of the Campus Deli, across from Marist, and get into a vehicle that had been left running and unattended. The officer attempted to pull the suspect from the car but the criminal resisted and stepped on the gas, trying to speed away. The officer, still entangled with Van Leuven, was dragged alongside the car as it struck two other parked cars, jumped the curb, and entered North Road.
The stolen car, with the officer being dragged, struck the center median, went partially airborne and struck a van that was traveling north on North Road. The vehicles came to rest on the lawn in front of the medical building at 243 North Road. Both the officer and Vanleuven were ejected from the vehicle during the crash, and both were pinned underneath the stolen car. Both Vanleuven and the officer sustained serious injuries and were transported in separate ambulances to MidHudson Regional Hospital.
Town police officials say that Vanleuven, with no permanent address, has been arrested and released on appearance tickets by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, due to New York State Bail Reform Law, nine times since July of 2021. While committing the crime on March 15, he had an active arrest warrant for burglary and bench warrants for petit larceny and robbery.
