POUGHKEEPSIE – A 39-year-old convicted felon is facing new charges after running from police while armed with two loaded handguns on Tuesday afternoon in Poughkeepsie. The incident began on Main Street at approximately 2:06 p.m.
Kenneth Paddyfote, who has served a prison sentence for criminal possession of a controlled substance followed by a seven-year sentence for criminal possession of a weapon is facing three felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property.
City 911 received a call at 2:06 p.m. reporting a man with a gun in the area of 299 Main Street. One of the city’s community policing officers was in the area and responded within moments and had a description of the man, now identified as Paddyfote, along with the knowledge that he was armed.
The officer spotted Paddyfote in the vicinity of Main and Garden Streets and drew his weapon, ordering Paddyfote to the ground. The suspect failed to obey and ran down the Garden Street alley, with the officer in close pursuit. The officer radioed in his location and situation, which drew a significant number of additional officers to the area.
Paddyfote ran through the Garden Street municipal lot, attempting to get back to Main Street. Finding his escape route blocked, he circled back through the lot, with the officer still chasing, and threw the guns into a storm drain on Garden Street near the rear of the Financial Plaza parking deck. Moments later, the officer apprehended Paddyfote and he was arrested.
Officers, with the assistance of the city’s DPW crew, removed the top of the catch basin and recovered the two illegal handguns tossed by the fleeing felon.
One of the weapons, a loaded 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic was previously reported stolen from a North Carolina address.
Paddyfote was arraigned on the charges Wednesday morning and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail.
The two weapons seized from the Paddyfote incident are the 34th and 35th illegal handguns seized by city police in 2023.
Video of Tuesday’s arrest of Paddyfote:
