Cops: Man Pepper Sprayed After Escaping Out Police Car Window

This article was posted by Lisa Finn but written by Brendan O'Reilly.

A Riverhead man briefly escaped custody Friday morning before he was captured again, resulting in an assault charge, according to police.

Southampton Village police said 33-year-old Randy W. Salmons was driving erratically east on Hill Street in a 2007 Chevrolet, passing vehicles on the left. When he was stopped on Windmill Lane, he told an officer his name was David Benowitz, police said. A computer check showed his license had been revoked four times since 2008 for alcohol-related reasons, according to police, who added that he was also on probation.

After being placed under arrest and put in the rear of a police cruiser, Salmons escaped through a window and ran, police said. He was chased down and subdued with pepper spray, and the arresting officer's hand was injured during the incident, according to police.

Salmons was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operations, false personation, resisting arrest, and third-degree escape, all misdemeanors.  
 
Salmons was arraigned and remanded to the Suffolk County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bail. His vehicle was impounded, police said.