Updated 06/03/2009 06:24 AM
Escaped Arkansas prisoners caught in New York after chase
Adams (Left) Grinder (Right)
HORNELL, NY -- "It was something you don't expect to see every day, put it that way," said Hornell resident Steven Prior.
It all started shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, when a New York State trooper pulled over a maroon Hyundai Sonata on Interstate 86 in the Town of Amity. However, as the trooper approached the vehicle, it sped off.
Inside of the car, two escaped inmates from an Arkansas prison serving life sentences for capital murder.
A high speed pursuit followed and the men eventually led police into the City of Hornell.
"We had top speeds of 90 miles per hour. They traveled approximately 18 miles in roughly 15 minutes," explained New York State Police Major Mark Koss.
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Two Hornell police cars and six to seven state police vehicles followed the men into this quiet neighborhood.
"Nothing like this ever happens so I think that's why the whole neighborhood was out on the sidewalk," said resident Alaina McDermott.
The chase finally ended on the corner of Cameron and Maple Street before the two men got out of their car and fled on foot. But thankfully police were able to end this dramatic chase before anything else happened.
"All these cops going up and down the street it was pretty amazing. Then you find out a couple of hours later the extent of what actually happened, it's pretty mind boggling," said Prior.
"All the lights and the sirens going and they got out of their cars and they all had their guns drawn and they were running in all different directions," added McDermott.
The officers chased down the convicts through several yards in the neighborhood before they were caught. Luckily no one was injured, and the only damage was a long skid mark on Maple Street and a scuff to a street sign.
"I feel very fortunate that everything turned out as it did. No one was injured including any of the officers that were involved in it," said Hornell Police Chief Theodore Murray.
And now it's back to prison for Calvin Adams and Jeffrey Grinder. The men are currently being held in the county jail and are facing felony charges of fleeing police and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
There had been reports of the men in Missouri and Michigan over the past several days.
They admitted they were traveling to New York City to blend in with the general population and avoid suspicion.