Two Stolen Cars, Troopers, Police Chiefs, Drones, Dogs, All in Cortland County Incident

New York State Police are sorting through the thefts of two cars, a couple vehicle pursuits, a crash and the apprehension of four central New York residents that brought out troopers, deputies, city and village police, two police chiefs, a bloodhound and a drone in Cortland County.  

Authorities say a trooper assigned to the Traffic Incident Management Unit monitoring traffic on Interstate 81 north Friday, October 7 near Cortlandville saw a vehicle speeding at around 8:54 a.m. and tried to stop it near Hoxie Gorge in Cortlandville.  The driver at first stopped but then sped off.  The trooper found out that the vehicle had been reported stolen. 

The driver of the stolen vehicle sped along several roads in the City of Cortland before intentionally driving off the road and into a field in the Town of Homer.  The vehicle hit a tree near McDonald Road.  The driver and two teens ran off into a wooded area. 

Meanwhile, troopers say while they and other members of law enforcement were scouring the area for the occupants of the stolen car,  another driver in another stolen vehicle came to the area to try to pick up the three who had run away and sped off.   

That vehicle was spotted by a Cortland County Sheriff’s Deputy who tried to make the traffic stop but the vehicle fled. 

That stolen car was eventually stopped on Interstate 81 near Exit 13 in Tully in Onondaga County and that driver was taken into custody shortly after 11 a.m. 

The three occupants of the first vehicle were taken into custody shortly after noon running behind a Cortland trailer park. 

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State Police 20-year-old Ejarias Burgin of Camillus, who was driving the first stolen car, is charged with felony Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. The 18-year-old boy and 18-year-old girl in the car were not charged. 

The driver of the second car, 20-year-old Zaquest Robinson Cummings of Syracuse, is also charged with felony Criminal Possession of Stolen Property.