Cops: Carjacker tried to push stolen car into Peconic River

Troopers searching for a carjacking suspect found him not far from the scene of the crime early Thursday in Riverside -- trying to push the stolen car into the Peconic River, police said.

State Police said it turned out that Michael Booker, 29, of Riverhead, had two children in common with the unidentified victim and had stolen her car after finding her in the vehicle, waiting for her boyfriend, at a nearby Valero gas station.

Booker, who tried to flee troopers along the riverbank, even threatening to jump into the river before being apprehended, was charged with second-degree robbery, second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree reckless endangerment and harassment, police said.

Troopers from the Riverside Barracks responded to the carjacking call at about 1:45 a.m., the victim telling police she was waiting for her boyfriend to complete a transaction at the gas station on the Riverside traffic circle when Booker forced her from her 2008 Nissan Altima and drove off, police said.

During a search of the area, troopers located Booker and the car in the rear parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant on Flanders Road in Riverside -- attempting to push the car into the Peconic River, police said.

Booker was arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court Thursday and remanded to the Suffolk County Jail.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”