He Fled Police Twice And Dropped A Gun, Now He's Off To Prison

NEWBURGH, NY — A Hudson Valley man could only delay the inevitable, prosecutors said.

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that 26-year-old Mark Garcia, of Newburgh, was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision after a guilty plea to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

According to court documents, on March 1, 2024 Garcia was a passenger in a car that was stopped by police in the City of Newburgh. When the driver was ordered out of the vehicle, Garcia got behind the wheel, and fled the scene, according to cops.

Police found the car soon after, but Garcia was gone.

On May 11, 2024 police officers saw Garcia engaging in what they said seemed to be a hand-to-hand narcotics transaction in the City of Newburgh.

The officers, who were aware of the charges pending for Garcia for the March incident, approached him, causing him to flee again, this time on foot, officials said.

While running, Garcia dropped a gun, which police recovered. Officers also found a loaded magazine from the weapon near where he tossed the gun. Garcia was soon located by police and he admitted to officers that he had purchased the gun.

"As we so often see, dangerous firearms are illegally possessed by drug dealers as tools of the narcotics trade," Hoovler said. "Law enforcement will diligently pursue these offenders, both to rid our streets of the poison they sell and the deadly weapons they wield. I have made it a priority of my Office to vigorously prosecute the illegal possession of guns because of the deadly impact they have in our communities. We will persist in our ongoing campaign against dangerous offenders who commit violent felonies."