Teen Assaults Elderly Woman and Steals Car in Suffern; Caught After Chase, Suffern Police Say

A 15-year-old male is in custody following a violent carjacking and subsequent police pursuit that spanned two states and ended in a crash near the George Washington Bridge.

The incident began at approximately 12:22 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, when the Suffern Police Department received a report from a West Ward resident that her elderly neighbor had been assaulted and her vehicle stolen. Responding officers located the victim, an elderly female, who reported that a male acquaintance—whom she had previously hired to mow her lawn—came to her home under the pretense of doing yard work and asked her to move her car.

As the woman retrieved her car keys from the entry hallway of her home, the male suspect followed her inside. When she attempted to hand him the keys, he forcibly took them and pushed her to the ground, causing an injury to her arm. The suspect then fled the scene in her vehicle without permission.

The victim was treated at the scene by EMS and later transported by her son to Good Samaritan Hospital for further evaluation. Suffern Police detectives, assisted by the Rockland County Sheriff’s BCI unit, responded and processed the scene for evidence. The stolen vehicle was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

Shortly afterward, Englewood, NJ Police notified Suffern authorities that they had located the stolen vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. The driver fled, initiating a pursuit during which multiple uninvolved vehicles were struck. The chase concluded in a crash on Route 4 near the George Washington Bridge, where the suspect was taken into custody.

Suffern Police detectives and BCI investigators responded to Englewood PD and processed the recovered vehicle. The suspect, a 15-year-old male residing in the Mahwah, NJ section of the West Ward, admitted to stealing the vehicle but later became uncooperative and aggressive with law enforcement. He is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility in New Jersey.

Charges are pending in both states. The Suffern Police Department is coordinating with the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office to have the suspect arraigned in the Youth Part of Rockland County Criminal Court on charges related to the New York incident.