Car Stolen on Main St. in New City, recovered in Stony Point

A Stony Point man was arrested in Stony Point today in connection with the theft of a New City resident's car this morning from a gas station on Main Street in New City, police said.

Clarkstown police said the owner of a 2009 Subaru left the keys in the car while going inside the AM PM Gas Station at about 7:58 a.m. When the owner reported the car stolen, a Clarkstown dispatcher notified area police departments about the theft.

A short time later, a Stony Point police officer spotted the car and stopped it on Route 9W. Police arrested Ryan W. Ashford, 20, of 109 Jay St., Stony Point, charging him with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

Stony Point police said the car was spotted quickly because a town police officer  placed the license plate number of the stolen car into a search program of a recently obtained License Plate Reader system obtained by the department through grant funding by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

While a town officer was on patrol with the License Plate Reader, the license plate of the stolen New City car was electronically detected. The officer stopped the car after an alert signal from the onboard system.

Ashford was arrested and processed at the Stony Point police station and turned over to Clarkstown detectives.  Ashford was to be arraigned before a Town of Clarkstown judge in New City.

Stony Point police said they were assisted by the Town of Haverstraw Police, in addition to Clarkstown police.

Clarkstown police also use the electronic license plate reader system on a patrol car that is used for traffic enforcement.