by David Flint
People who stopped at an accident last Friday afternoon in Stephentown Center were left wondering what was going on when two State Police cars came speeding down Route 43 but whizzed right by the accident and sped down Newton Road toward Black River Road. Turns out the State Troopers were involved in a pursuit, and the woman whose car spun out on Route 43 at the same time had nothing to do with it.
The Troopers were chasing Christopher Beckwith, 24, a former Stephentown resident, now residing on Miller Hill Road in Sand Lake.
According to Trooper Maureen Tuffey, Public Information Officer for Troop G, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department had put out a radio broadcast about a reckless driver in a red pickup truck in the Stephentown area. A trooper caught up with him and attempted to pull him over, but he refused to stop. The chase continued up Route 43, over Newton Road to Black River Road. Beckwith struck the Trooper’s car before heading west onto a trail that runs below the nationalgrid power lines. The Trooper then proceeded back up Route 43 and around to Calvin Cole Road thinking to catch Beckwith when he came out of the trail onto that road. He was joined by another trooper at that point. It is not clear what happened then but it seems Beckwith must have turned back down the trail toward Black River Road and the troopers seeing this rushed back down Route 43 to Black River Road. It was at this point that they whizzed past the spin out in front of the Stephentown Center Community Church.
The troopers arrived at the entrance to the power line trail and attempted to stop Beckwith there, but Beckwith was not to be stopped. He came barreling out of the trail onto Black River Road coming close to running down one of the officers. He swerved left and headed down Black River Road. The astounded trooper then jumped in his patrol car and continued the chase. Less than a quarter of a mile down the road, however, Beckwith lost control of his truck and crashed into a tree and the chase was over. The troopers suffered minor injuries trying to extricate Beckwith from the crash, and Beckwith had some minor injuries but miraculously no one was seriously injured from Beckwith’s recklessness. Tammy Madden, who stopped to direct traffic at the spin out accident said she had a close call a little earlier when Beckwith, pursued by a trooper, came charging out of Staples Road onto Route 43 without slowing down and headed up the road directly in front of her.
Tuffey said the chase covered five miles at an average speed of 60 miles per hour. Beckwith was charged with DWI, assault and numerous vehicle and traffic violations. He was remanded to Rensselaer County Jail.
Beckwith was involved in another high speed pursuit in the Town of Berlin back in 1999. At that time he was driving an ATV and refused to stop for a Trooper. He ended up in a ditch across the road from the Berlin Community Cemetery with serious head, shoulder and spinal injuries. Beckwith said the trooper tapped him with his patrol car from behind causing his crash. Four years later, despite being charged with operating the ATV in a dangerous and reckless manner and failing to comply with a lawful order of a police officer, he won a judgment against the trooper in the New York State Court of Claims.