Brian Quinn, Daily Repoter
An attempted arrest on a criminal mischief warrant Wednesday afternoon turned into a search for Cuba resident Jeremy Ostrander, who was still missing when today began.
Cuba police said the pursuit began after they received a tip that Ostrander was on Genesee Street a little after 3 o’clock Wednesday in a Chevy HHR. He had completed a drug deal, police were told.
“Obviously, we can’t verify that at this time,” Cuba Police Chief Dustin Burch said. “However, our officer did respond because we do have a warrant out of our court here in Cuba.”
“The officer ... started to have a short conversation with him, explain to him that we did have a warrant for him,” Burch continued. “At that point, Jeremy did yell some profanities at the officer, rolled his window up and proceeded to put the vehicle in drive, taking off on Genesee Street, making a right and going up Genesee, continuing to 305 north at a very high rate of speed. Police say he faces several traffic charges.
“Obviously, our officer did follow, but it was getting to the point where it was too dangerous to continue an active pursuit. So, at that point, we backed off,” he said.
Burch said the Chevy continued going north on Route 305 at a high speed. The vehicle had Tennessee license plates.
“We received several calls that he ran several people off the road and was driving up the center of the road. At that point, we lost sight of him,” he said. “Nobody was injured in this incident, thankfully, but the investigation is ongoing. There were no shots fired and we’re not sure if he had a firearm, but we’re going to assume no.”
Burch said through the county dispatch center, police were able to trace Ostrander’s cell phone to Barber Hill Road in the Caneadea and Rushford areas. Cuba police were assisted by the county Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police and state environmental conservation officers.
“We checked several locations, we talked with several neighbors up there, still did not come up with anything,” he said. “It started to get too dark and we searched for awhile.”
Sheriff’s office Lt. Daniel Hanchett said, “We thought we had a good location on him and we saturated that area with law enforcement and we did not find him. He’s from Cuba. He does have family.
“If the subject (Ostrander) was an immediate threat to himself, others or law enforcement, that would change our response and we would gear up for that,” Hanchett said.
Burch said aside from Ostrander, police want to talk to a male passenger.
“At this time, we’re looking to interview everybody that was in the vehicle. We don’t know if there was anybody in the back seat or anybody laying down,” Burch said. “The officer could see there was somebody in the passenger’s seat — a white male, believed to be his brother.”
The Cuba police chief said the department would certainly appreciate any information the public may offer. People may call (585) 968-1666 and calls will be kept confidential.
“He’s a white male, approximately 5 feet, 11 inches tall,” Burch said of Ostrander. “He’s about 180 pounds. He has dark hair, usually wearing workboots, jeans and a hat. At this point, we didn’t get a good description of what he was wearing, because he was in the vehicle and because the whole conversation with the officer and him took a few seconds.
“We’d like him to just come in peacefully and turn himself in. The warrant that we have for him currently is minor. It certainly wasn’t worth the high-speed chase and it certainly wasn’t worth the public safety risk,” said Burch.
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