SOUTHOLD, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Florida man allegedly slashed tires outside a Long Island town hall Monday before leading police on a chase through Suffolk County that ended when he drove off a cliff into the Long Island Sound.
The wild chain of events started shortly before 11 a.m. when Roger Foster, 56, of The Villages, slashed the tire of a parked car outside the Southold Town Hall annex, police said.
Someone provided a description of the suspect's car to police, and an officer spotted the vehicle shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Route 48 in Peconic.
The officer tried to stop Foster, but he allegedly fled westbound on Route 48 into Riverhead, with police in pursuit.
By the time Foster ended up back in Southold, a Suffolk County police helicopter was involved in the chase, relaying his location to units on the ground.
Foster eventually turned onto Sound Road in Greenport and accelerated towards the road's end, according to cops.
He crashed through a wooded barrier and "launched his vehicle" off a cliff into the shallow waters of the Long Island Sound, police said.
Officers surrounded his partially submerged vehicle, shattered the driver side window and removed him.
He was arrested and taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
A heavy tow truck lifted the vehicle up the bluff and onto the roadway so it could be impounded.
Foster faces charges of criminal contempt, criminal mischief and unlawful fleeing, as well as numerous traffic violations, police said.