Greg Shillinglaw

gshillingl@lohud.com

Two Spring Valley men were jailed upstate this weekend after allegedly participating in a shooting and police pursuit on Saturday night, police said.

Jonathan Dawkins, 24, led police on the chase, at one point deliberately ramming a Town of Newburgh police cruiser that attempted to stop his car, police told The Poughkeepsie Journal.

Kenneth Nash, 24, was also in the vehicle along with two other men. The group was believed to have been involved in a shooting in Orange County earlier on Saturday, police said, and were seen traveling in a car with a shattered rear window with what looked like two bullet holes in it.

Dawkins sped off when a police officer noticed the vehicle, driving onto I-84 East and blowing through a toll barrier, police said. The men threw a stolen handgun out of a car window during the chase and it was later recovered by police. At no point did the group exchange gunfire with police officers.

Police eventually arrested Dawkins in East Fishkill in Dutchess County after he rammed his car into the cruiser, and then spun onto an embankment, police said.

His passengers fled into the surrounding woods; Nash and a New Jersey man were quickly apprehended but a fourth suspect got away. Police also recovered about $75,000.

Dawkins was charged with three felonies: second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police oficcer. He also faces numerous vehicle and traffic violations and was in jail on a $10,000 cash/$25,000 bond bail.

Nash, who was denied bail, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. The third man was also charged.

The men were sent to Orange County jail after being arraigned in the Town of Newburgh Court. They're due back in court on March 28.

Law enforcement agencies, including Westchester County police, were involved in the search for the fourth suspect. He was believed to have left the area.

Twitter: @gshilly