ROTTERDAM & SCHENECTADY : Police chase ends with SUV in bank Ambulances, spectators cop cars converge on scene BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter A lengthy police chase that covered parts of Schenectady and Rotterdam ended Thursday evening with an SUV slamming into a TrustCo bank branch near the busy five-way intersection of Curry Road and Altamont Avenue. As many as three people were in the car during the chase, and some were taken from the crash scene in ambulances. Indications from police radio transmissions and witnesses at the scene indicated the injuries did not appear to be serious. No one outside the car appeared to be injured. The chase began just after 6:30 p.m. after an attempted traffic stop on Albany Street, according to Schenectady police. Officers pursued the Ford Escape driven by Natasha Popolizo, 25, at various points onto Interstate 890 near Rotterdam Square mall, and eventually, after about 20 minutes, to Curry Road and Altamont Avenue, according to radio transmissions. Police said the car was believed to have been involved in a pellet gun assault earlier in the day in Schenectady. Charges are pending against Popolizo and the investigation will continue. On Feb. 1, 2008 she was arrested and charged reckless endangerment, driving while ability impaired, unlawfully fleeing from police and other charges after allegedly attempting to run over a police officer in Johnstown. She pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment, a class D felony. Lois Fortune of Rotterdam witnessed the end of the chase. She said she was driving on Altamont Avenue and pulled over near Price Chopper and the TrustCo branch for police cars going by. “The next thing you know, we see the car that’s in the building come flying around the corner,” Fortune said. “It jumps this curb here, takes out of couple signs and right into the building.” She then saw offi ers swarm from their cars, guns drawn, to pull the occupants from the SUV. The SUV crashed through a window at the bank, going completely inside the building. Fortune said she saw a puff of smoke billow out after it went in. It appeared from radio transmissions and witnesses that some of the occupants may have gotten out of the car and were arrested inside the bank. A woman passenger and a 15-year old male passenger were taken into custody. The scene quickly attracted many onlookers. Altamont Avenue remained open, but police had to repeatedly tell people to stay out of the street and on the sidewalks. Bill Coons of Rotterdam was coming out of the nearby Hess gas station when he saw the chase ending. “There were multiple cops chasing at high speed,” Coons said. “[ The SUV] rounded this corner and it appeared to lose control on this corner and jump the curb.” “It hit the bank, went right into the bank,” Coons added, “slammed right into it.” When he saw the officers pull their weapons, Coons said he instinctively ducked, unsure of what might happen. No shots were fi red, however. Coons saw people pulled out of the building. “They went in and took them out,” Coons said. “Fortunately it hit the bank,” Coons said. “The bank we can fix.” “It’s crazy, it’s just crazy,” Coons commented. Said Fortune, “It’s like really being in the movies, seeing movies for real. It just all happened so fast.”
Probably the same thing that happened to Michael Hastings car when he crashed... you know... the CIA sabotaged her car, causing it to crash into the bank.
(Funny how reasonable it sounded when YOU posted it but how ridiculous it sounds now!)
Now all we need is a witness saying that there was a Black Helicopter following her just before she crashed into the bank!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Bet this Popolizio doesn't have insurance either although it may only be the banks customers footing the bill instead of the taxpayers.
By the way, has the dem leadership in Schdy, the city, done ANYTHING at all to get the taxpayers' money back from Popolizio? Intelligent people aren't holding their breath waiting for the city to go after him.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
SCHENECTADY -- The driver who led police on a high speed chase and ended up in the side of a Schenectady bank is facing several felony charges. 25-year-old Natasha Popolizio of Schenectady has been charged with criminal possession of a marcotic, three counts of reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawfully fleeing a police officer, criminal possession of marijuana, unlicensed operation, reckless driving and 41 other vehicle and traffic violations. A passenger in the car at the time of the pursuit, 22-year-old Margariata Lopez of Schenectady, was charged with criminal possession of a narcotic. Popolizio is currently being treated at Albany Med for injuries she received after crashing into the Trustco Bank and will be arraigned later today. Lopez is currently being held in lock-up and will be arraigned later today.
It's the fault of some clerk who didn't harass some woman somewhere enough so that she was embarrassed to fill her prescription. That's how the drug trade starts. I thought social mobility was upward in America.
The public was put in great danger over a minor offense.
Catching a person who flees from the police is a matter of them protecting their own egos.
This could easily have become a really bad situation.
don't know all the facts...i guess .....but this high speed chase over a BB GUN???? ROTTENdam, SCUMnectay and StateTroopers??????? How bout just getting the license plate #!! An awful lot of potential danger to innocent stand-byers for a BB gun....no? It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story, like how the cops got their 'tip' to begin with. Sounds like overkill to most folks................just sayin'
Not to mention that there are folks everyday who's windows are being shot out with BB guns and when they call the cops....they don't come...not serious enough.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
don't know all the facts...i guess .....but this high speed chase over a BB GUN???? ROTTENdam, SCUMnectay and StateTroopers??????? How bout just getting the license plate #!! An awful lot of potential danger to innocent stand-byers for a BB gun....no? It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story, like how the cops got their 'tip' to begin with. Sounds like overkill to most folks................just sayin'
"You'll shoot your eye out!"
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
gonna have to disagree on that one.. I have tried to watch the movie on more than five occasions, but can never finish it because it puts me to sleep....it just plain doesn't keep my interest. With this movie, you either think it is the greatest holiday movie of all time or shake your head wondering if those people watched the same movie as you did.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
marijuana and a freaking BB/pellet gun....REALLY...NO....FREAKIN' REALLY.....WTH.......A police chase in an sub/urban area is like a WWE cage fight......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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.....but this high speed chase over a BB GUN???? ROTTENdam, SCUMnectay and StateTroopers??????? How bout just getting the license plate #!! An awful lot of potential danger to innocent stand-byers for a BB gun....no? It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story, like how the cops got their 'tip' to begin with. Sounds like overkill to most folks................just sayin'
