GREENPORT, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- An intoxicated Long Island man was arrested after he stole a Mercedes-Benz with a sleeping child inside and led a good Samaritan and cops on a miles-long pursuit through Suffolk County before crashing into a guardrail, police said Wednesday.
The 14-month-old child’s grandmother had stopped on Front Street in Greenport around 2 p.m. Tuesday to briefly enter a store when a 55-year-old man hopped in her Mercedes SUV and took off with the toddler, according to Town of Southold Police.
While inside the store, the woman noticed her SUV was being stolen, as did a good Samaritan who was parked nearby.
The good Samaritan called the woman into his vehicle and the two of them pursued the Mercedes westbound on Route 25.
They eventually caught up with the Mercedes at Moore’s Lane, where the good Samaritan cut the vehicle off onto the shoulder, police said.
The woman got into her stolen SUV to rescue her grandchild, but the thief took off again with both of them in tow.
He continued to speed westbound on Route 25 as the good Samaritan pursued him and called 911, police said.
Less than a mile away at Silvermere Road, the driver released the woman and child from the SUV and continued westbound.
Responding officers found the good Samaritan, woman and child on the shoulder of Route 25. They were not injured.
Cops tracked down the suspect within minutes, locating the stolen SUV at Route 25 and Town Harbor Lane in Southold Village.
Officers pursued the suspect through the village, where he sped past cars and disregarded traffic signals, police said.
He eventually crashed the Mercedes into a guardrail outside of the Southold American Legion on Route 25.
The suspect, who was not injured, was quickly apprehended by police. He was later identified as Paul G. Ludeman, of Holtsville.
Ludeman was charged with a long list of crimes, including grand larceny, aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child in the car, acting in a manner injurious to a child, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle without owner’s consent, driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, using a vehicle without an interlock device, and reckless driving.
He also faces multiple vehicle and traffic law infractions, police said.
According to Newsday, Ludeman pleaded not guilty to all charges and was held without bail during a Wednesday arraignment in Southold Town Justice Court.
Ludeman was previously convicted of grand larceny and driving while intoxicated, according to the report, which said he was recently released from jail in September following an eight-month stint for second-degree criminal contempt.
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