CRIME
Man charged with fleeing police
An Orchard Park man who is awaiting sentencing in a federal money laundering case was arrested Friday for allegedly leading troopers on a chase from Buffalo to Hamburg three days earlier, state police announced.
William L. Toth, 41, was allegedly seen speeding on the Niagara Thruway in Buffalo by a state trooper Tuesday night. The trooper attempted to stop him, but Toth allegedly refused. The pursuit went over the Skyway, to Lackawanna, through Blasdell and finally to the Town of Hamburg, where state police decided to call off the chase for safety reasons.
An investigation began and troopers discovered that Toth was under home confinement by federal authorities. He is awaiting sentencing in September in federal court after pleading guilty to a scheme to cheat the U. S. Postal Service out of more than $350,000. He also had admitted to filing a false tax return in 2005 that understated his taxes by $40,000. He was outfitted with an electronic bracelet as part of his home-confinement arrangement.
State police investigators also learned that Toth was on probation for multiple DWI-related convictions.
In a curious twist, Toth had been pulled from a burning house — his former home in Elma— by a state trooper in October 2007. Toth was apparently trying to put out a basement fire in his home when he fell unconscious. His wife and three children escaped on their own.
On Thursday, investigators interviewed Toth, and Friday morning, he was arrested and arraigned in Hamburg Town Court. He was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, and unlawful fleeing from police, a misdemeanor. He was sent to the Erie County Holding Center without bail. He is to appear in Hamburg Court Thursday.
State police also alerted both federal and county authorities about Toth’s arrest.
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