BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Rochester 16-year-old boy who led Buffalo Police Officer Jonathan Negron on a car chase that severely injured Negron will spend nine years in prison.
The teen, whose name hasn’t been released, pleaded guilty to assault on a police office and second-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in September. He was sentenced Thursday and will spend nine years in prison and three years on probation.
The judge considered age and the fact that the defendant plead guilty to both charges when making his decision. He also denied youthful offender status which would have made the sentence more lenient.
On the afternoon of June 3, a BPD officer responded to a call of four people in a vehicle with a gun at Crossman Avenue and Hemingway Street in Buffalo. The officer tried to pull over a vehicle on Genesee Street matching the description, this is when the 16-year-old fled toward Cheektowaga.
Officer Jonathan Negron, who has been with the force for nine years, chased then teen down Genesee Street, through Mount Calvary Cemetery and crossed onto Harlem Road. The teen crashed into two vehicles and a utility pole near Mafalda Drive. The pole crashed through the driverside window of Negron’s patrol car, knocking him unconscious.
The 16-year-old and three other people ran from the vehicle and were taken into custody. No weapons were found by investigators.
Negron was treated at Erie County Medical Center over several weeks, including being put in a medically induced coma, for serious head and spinal injuries. He walked out of the hospital after a month of treatment.
“Instead of stopping the vehicle to allow police to investigate, this adolescent offender sped off through Buffalo and Cheektowaga, putting the lives of everyone on those streets in danger,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said following the teen’s guilty plea. “His reckless actions caused serious injuries to a Buffalo Police officer who could have been killed by the impact of that crash.”
Patrick Ryan is a digital producer who has been part of the News 4 team since 2020. See more of his work here.
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