Staff Reports
TOWN OF TONAWANDA — A car chase that started with thefts in an Amherst parking lot ended with an arrest Wednesday in the Town of Tonawanda.
Town police spotted a yellow SUV being chased by a black SUV on Eggert Road on Wednesday afternoon and followed to pull the cars over, according to reports. The black SUV stopped, and the off-duty border patrol officer inside told police he was chasing the driver of the yellow SUV because the man was spotted stealing from cars parked at the Olive Garden in Amherst.
The officer then went to pull over the yellow vehicle, driven by Adam J. Nelson, who said he was returning from a dentist’s appointment when the black SUV began following him for reasons he didn’t understand.
Witnesses told a different story. One saw Nelson throwing a purple iPod from his window as he drove by, which was later identified by an Olive Garden customer as being stolen from his vehicle. Amherst police found that others in the parking lot identified the yellow SUV as the one they saw fleeing the scene.
Police also discovered two GPS units in the vehicle and another in Nelson’s coat pocket, all of which he claimed were his despite the fact that he didn’t have their power cords. Officers are still trying to power up the devices to find the home addresses programmed inside.
Nelson was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
