A Rochester man is in custody after a police chase down several Rochester streets.
Around 2 p.m., a Rochester Police officer was flagged down in front of a store on South Plymouth Avenue for the report of a man, identified as 27-year-old Munir Muthana, driving erratically.
Police tried to stop Muthana but he did not stop and then struck the officer’s vehicle. A slow-speed pursuit ensued down various streets in southwest Rochester. Muthana’s Nissan Maxima hit a car at Jefferson Avenue and West Main Street.
He continued driving down Jefferson Avenue, hitting a second police vehicle driven by a K-9 sergeant at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Clifton Street.
The pursuit continued and eventually ended on South Plymouth just before the intersection of Genesee Street where Muthana’s car hit another car.
Muthana is facing five counts of second-degree assault, DWI and reckless driving. He is accused of injuring six people. They are 21-year-old Dominick Nicholson, 20-year-old Tyrese Beard, 40-year-old James Pross, 50-year-old Debra Hollis, 25-year-old Luis Cruz and 49-year-old Diane Neil. All are Rochester residents.
In his statement to police, he said he drank six cans of Budweiser in an hour. Then he started using swear words, cussing police and government. He said, “Ben Franklin was stupid. He should have made it so you *expletives* can’t swerve the law. The Muslims will fix this country.”
When bail was being set at $20,000, the prosecutor said that Muthana has ties to Yemen.
He pled not guilty at arraignment this morning.
No one, including the police officers, were seriously injured.