Town of Niagara man arrested after stolen car pursuit, standoff

Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Apr. 27—A Town of Niagara man was arrested following a stolen car pursuit and standoff in Cayuga Village early Saturday morning.

The Niagara County Sheriff's Office reports that police received a call of a car being stolen from the 800 block of Sunnyside Drive about 5:20 a.m. The caller said that a man in a mask approached their idling vehicle and stole it from their driveway.

As deputies and New York State troopers were responding, a second 911 call came in from a motorist on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Wheatfield who reported a vehicle driving errtically and the driver appeared to have a gun.

A deputy located the vehicle and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle, confirmed to be the same stolen vehicle, failed to stop.

The pursuit was joined by members of the Sheriff's Office, State Police, Town of Niagara Police, Niagara Falls Police and New York State Park Police. It led south on Niagara Falls Boulevard through a parking lot roadside and back north on Niagara Falls Boulevard into the city of Niagara Falls. It continued in the area of Cayuga Drive, 87th Street and the surrounding LaSalle area before entering Cayuga Village.

During the pursuit, a tire deflation device was successfully deployed twice, once by the Sheriff's Office and once by Niagara Falls police. Ultimately, the vehicle fled to the 1200 block of Dogwood Drive where it crashed into a carport. The driver fled the vehicle and ran into the home, locking the door behind him.

Responding police set up a perimeter and were able to breach the home from the back door. Robert C. Ashcroft, 33, of the Town of Niagara, was taken into custody without incident. He was evaluated by EMS and signed off. Police said they did not find a firearm.

Ashcroft was remanded to the Niagara County Correctional Facility to await arraignment on charges of:

—Third-degree grand larceny

—Fourth-degree criminal mischief

—Third-degree fleeing an officer (A misdemeanor)

—Resisting arrest (A misdemeanor)

—Second-degree obstruction of governmental administration (A misdemeanor)

—Reckless driving

—Second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation

—Numerous VTL Violations.