Foot Pursuit Ends With Drug Charge Downtown

A Mt. Vernon man's attempt to escape police custody ended in the back of a police cruiser on Park Ave. in Harrison Friday afternoon.

Andrew Pienczykowski, 30, was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest as well as disorderly conduct, a violation, after a run-in with police along Halstead Ave. Police say Pienczykowski was acting "suspicious" in front of the Harrison Mall a little before 2 p.m. When an officer approached him and asked for identification, police say Pienczykowski pulled out a cigarette box containing two decks of heroin.

When police attempted to take Pienczykowski into custody, he pushed an officer and ran through the Harrison Mall into the Fremont Street parking lot, said Harrison Police Lieutenant Edward Lucas.

Several officers chased Pienczykowski behind the Harrison Fire Department and eventually onto Colonial Pl. The pursuit ended in the front lawn of the Harrison Presbyterian Church on Park Ave.

Pienczykowski—whom Lucas said has a number of previous criminal convictions—told officers he ran because he was recently convicted of a separate crime and another arrest would affect his sentencing, police said.

"He said with his arrest the sentencing would be much greater, so he thought he would try to make an escape," Lucas said.

Instead, the run through downtown earned him additional charges, Lucas said.

Pienczykowski, who lives at 20 Williams St., Mt. Vernon, was transported to police headquarters. He was being processed Friday afternoon and bail had not been set, Lucas said.