NY Suspect Charged For Striking Deputy With Truck During Chase

ABERDEEN, MD — A New York man has been charged after a Harford County deputy was struck by a rental truck while trying to stop the suspect who fled a police chase a day earlier, officials said Wednesday.

Juan Yahir Quiroz Manzueta, 21, of Yonkers, New York, was arrested in New Rochelle, New York, early Wednesday, authorities said.

He has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a press conference.

Mazueta intentionally crashed into a tractor-trailer and another vehicle on I-95 before striking Lt. Robert Burgess, who was outside his vehicle trying to deploy devices to puncture the truck's tires and stop it. He was thrown 30 to 40 feet across a lane of traffic.

Burgess was taken to Shock Trauma in Baltimore for treatment.

"When I visited with him, he looked like he was run over by a truck. He looked bad ... but he was in good spirits. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him," Gahler said Wednesday, according to WBAL-TV. "We are very fortunate that we are not talking about an officer fatality; this suspect did his very best to kill an officer, and fortunately, he fell short."

The chase and crash that shut down part of southbound I-95 on Tuesday afternoon began when Manzueta drove a rental truck that held a container of cooking oil linked to a theft at an Applebee'sin Aberdeen fled, officials said.

Gahler said Lt. Robert Burgess was in an unmarked vehicle when he saw the Penske box truck driving erratically. Manzueta fled when Burgess tried to stop him, and the truck was then involved in two crashes. There were no injuries from either crash.

As Maryland State Police and other agencies joined the pursuit, Manzueta reportedly drove northbound in the southbound lanes of I-95, Gahler said. While trying to place devices to puncture the truck's tires and stop it, Burgess, who was outside his vehicle, was seriously injured.

The sheriff said Manzueta eluded authorities on foot and called a woman in New York, who drove to the Delaware travel plaza to pick him up, WBAL said.

Burgess is a 29-year member of the Harford County Sheriff's Office and assigned to the community policing division.

Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly released a statement Tuesday, saying:

"Harford County is grateful for the heroic actions of the sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement officers who surely saved lives today. Lt. Burgess' family is with him at the hospital, where I thanked them for his selfless dedication. We are praying for his full recovery. I would like to thank all the allied public safety agencies involved for their professional response to this potentially deadly incident."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Phil Golden at goldenp@harfordsheriff.org.