Chase ends with 10-year sentence

Jamarl Townsend was sentenced on May 14 to 10 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision after an Albany County case tied to a high-speed chase on Central Avenue. Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon’s office said Townsend, 32, was convicted in January after a three-day jury trial. The charges were second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. Prosecutors said the case began with a December 5, 2024 traffic stop attempt near Lexington Avenue and Sherman Street in Albany. ### How did the chase on Central Avenue begin? Albany County sheriff’s deputies saw a Nissan Rogue violating traffic laws near Lexington Avenue and Sherman Street on Dec. 5, 2024, according to the district attorney’s office. When deputies tried to stop the vehicle, prosecutors said Townsend sped away and headed west on Central Avenue at a high rate of speed. The district attorney’s office said deputies saw the driver throw a black bag from the window during the pursuit. Another officer recovered the bag, which prosecutors said contained a .45-caliber handgun loaded with 10 rounds. ### What made the pursuit part of the criminal case? Prosecutors said Townsend brake-checked a pursuing patrol vehicle during the chase, causing deputies to crash into the Nissan and ending the pursuit. The vehicle was later found abandoned at Willow and West Lawrence streets, according to the district attorney’s office. March 12, 2025 was the date New York State Police arrested Townsend during a later traffic stop, prosecutors said. Investigators had identified him as the driver after the December pursuit, the district attorney’s office said. ### What charges did jurors convict him on? January 2026 was when an Albany County jury found Townsend guilty after a three-day trial, according to local reports citing the district attorney’s office. The convictions were for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. Nineteen witnesses testified at trial and jurors viewed surveillance video, NEWS10 reported, citing the district attorney’s office. The jury returned its verdict after a little more than an hour of deliberations, the station reported. ### Why was the sentence 10 years? May 14 was the sentencing date, and the sentence announced by the district attorney’s office was 10 years in state prison plus five years of post-release supervision. Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon is a felony under New York law, and the evidence-tampering count was tied to prosecutors’ claim that Townsend tossed the gun from the vehicle during the chase. Lee Kindlon’s office described the case as one involving a loaded illegal gun, a flight from deputies and conduct that put officers and the public at risk. Local outlets reported the sentence from the district attorney’s announcement, though the court’s full sentencing remarks were not publicly detailed in the reports reviewed. ### What records are public, and what comes next? Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon’s office published the sentencing outcome, and local stations WNYT, CBS6 and NEWS10 carried accounts of the case based on that announcement. New York’s court system says criminal case information and court records can be obtained through official court channels, though the scope of public access varies by case. New York court records would be the next place to track any appeal, post-conviction motion or other filing by Townsend. As of the sentencing reports published on May 14 and May 15, the next publicly identifiable milestone was the five-year term of post-release supervision that will follow the prison sentence.