BUFFALO, New York— City of Tonawanda Police say that a guy is facing a lot of charges after a string of accidents and carjackings in several cities and towns on Monday night. One person was killed and several others were hurt.
The City of Tonawanda Police said that the Town of Hamburg police were the first to get reports of a hit-and-run in the Town of Evans.
Police in Hamburg gave up on their chase when the suspect, Mark Whalen, 31, wouldn’t stop for them, according to the authorities. The police then followed him on Route 5 until they reached the Skyway. Whalen drove through the City of Buffalo and into the Town of Tonawanda.
Police say Whalen hit a car on Delaware Avenue near Enola Avenue and then kept going.
Just after 8:15 p.m. Monday, police got a call that Whalen had hit and killed a 40-year-old man on the street in the City of Tonawanda.
Soon after, he hit the back of a truck at Delaware Avenue and Broad Street in Tonawanda and stole the truck’s car. He then got into another accident in North Tonawanda and tried to steal another car but failed. Police said Whalen then tried to steal another car but failed, which caused a crash. He was arrested near the corner of Sweeney and Main Streets.
When WIVB News 4 talked to Terrence Long, he said that he was driving the truck that was stolen.
“It was strange.” “The guy came out of nowhere and crashed into the side of my truck. He then confronted me, ran around his van, and stole my truck, which he then drove over the bridge,” Long said.
Whalen is being charged with several things:
- murder in the second degree
- theft in the third degree
- reckless risk in the second-degree
- theft in the third degree using a car without permission
- Leaving the scene of an accident that killed someone
- Having a controlled drug in seventh-degree criminal possession
- several driving violations
Kevin Ulmer, captain of the Tonawanda police force, said Whalen may have been involved in other accidents that have not been proven. One of these accidents may have happened on Church Street in Buffalo. He said that in the end, up to six damaged cars were spread out in several towns.
Ulmer said, “This time we had to slow down because we didn’t want to miss anything. The incident was over by the time we got there.” “This big in a city like this, this was a huge scene for us.”
Whalen was charged in court in the City of Tonawanda on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’ve had this job for more than 20 years.” Ulmer said, “I’ve never responded to a scene of this magnitude, so it shakes the city to its core.” “This is a tragedy.”
Please call the police at (716) 692-2121 ext. 304 or ext. 0 if you have any information, video, or witnesses.
