Walmart employee charged with assaulting security officer
THOMPSON NY Aug 6 2017 – An employee at Wal-Mart in the Town of Thompson who is accused of assaulting a store security officer with a trowel was caught Wednesday after a chase that ended at Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office said the assault in the Wal-Mart parking lot, which appeared to be unprovoked, was reported at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Sheriff’s Deputy Roy Rogers, who was on patrol nearby, saw the suspect – later identified as Jose Rupert, 50, of Carriage Hill Apartments in Monticello – leaving the parking lot in a Ford Escort and stopped him on Route 42.
As Rogers approached the car, Rupert drove off, going north on Anawana Lake Road, then south on Old Liberty Road. Monticello and Fallsburg police, state police and state environmental conservation police responded to assist.
The suspect turned onto Holmes Road and Old State Route 17, and made his way to Catskill Regional Medical Center, where officers surrounded him in the parking lot.
When Rupert refused to surrender, deputies had to break the driver’s side window and remove him, the sheriff’s office said.
Rupert and two deputies were treated for minor injuries at the hospital and released.
Rupert was charged with felony assault and reckless endangerment; resisting arrest, unlawful fleeing and criminal mischief, all misdemeanors; and numerous vehicle and traffic violations.
He was arraigned before Town of Thompson Justice Martin Miler and sent without bail to Sullivan County Jail pending a Monday court appearance.
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