GLENVILLE, N.Y. — A Connecticut man is in an upstate New York jail after he led police on a chase and then jumped into the Mohawk River near Schenectady.
Police in the village of Glenville say the incident began yesterday when two detectives approached a car after it had pulled into a park. The driver — 39-year-old William Nantz Junior of Colchester, Connecticut — then drove away, allegedly nearly hitting 1 of the officers.
Police say 1 of the detectives fired his weapon at the vehicle, hitting a tire. Nantz drove the car toward the Mohawk River before it got stuck and burst into flames.
Nantz then jumped into the river and swam to Lock Eight on the Erie Canal, where he climbed a ladder to a catwalk over a dam. Police threw a flotation device to Nantz, who put it on and then jumped from the catwalk.
He was swept down the river being pulled from the water by firefighters.
Police say they recovered the painkiller OxyContin from the scene.