Stolen car signals cops who arrest driver after chase and crash

A Queens man was arrested after a car crash on the Southern State ended a chase that started when a police plate-reading device identified a stolen sport utility vehicle.

The arrest was in South Hempstead Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Nassau County police said an officer on routine patrol on Elmont Road near Linden Boulevard got a signal for a stolen vehicle from a license plate-reading device in his patrol car.

Police said the device indicated the 2010 Toyota Sienna had been stolen Nov. 14.

The officer attempted to stop the car, but the driver of the Sienna "refused to pull over and accelerated," police said.

The pursuit ended on the Southern State Parkway, where the driver crashed into a utility police at Exit 20N, Grand Avenue, police said.

Police said the driver and a woman in the car fled on foot but were captured.

The driver, who police identified as Edward Muckle, 24, of 116-31 166th St., Jamaica, was arrested and charged with third-degree unlawful flight from a police officer and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

He was to be arraigned Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Police said the woman not charged.