TOWN OF NEWBURGH – A 33-year-old Poughkeepsie man who collided with a Town of Marlborough Police vehicle following a 13-mile pursuit is in the Ulster County Jail facing several felony and misdemeanor charges. The original Mid Hudson News report of the pursuit can be found here.
Christopher Melvin is charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, felony criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, felony criminal possession of a controlled substance following a previous conviction, and the misdemeanors of resisting arrest and reckless endangerment.
According to State Police, troopers assigned to the Community Stabilization Unit attempted to stop a 2017 Honda Civic traveling south on 9W in the Town of Lloyd near Chapel Hill Road at about 12:14 p.m. The driver, later identified as Christopher Melvin, failed to stop and led police on a chase heading south on Route 9W. Troopers were joined in the pursuit by officers from the Town of Marlborough and Town of Newburgh police departments.
Multiple civilian vehicles were struck during the chase, which ended on 9W near the Powelton Club in Newburgh after Melvin collided with a Town of Marlborough police SUV. With his vehicle inoperable, Melvin flung his door open, damaging a Town of Newburgh police unit, and fled on foot. Officers apprehended Melvin as he galloped across the golf course.
When police caught the fleeing felon, he had possession of fentanyl, amphetamines, and crack cocaine in his possession.
Melvin was arraigned in the Town of Plattekill Court and was remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $100,000 cash bail, $200,000 bond, or $400,000 partially-secured bond.
Federal authorities arrested Melvin during a large-scale drug sweep of the violent Bloods street gang conducted by the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force in 2010. He was released from federal custody in August 2017.
