HEADLINES: Police chase ends up in a river, mall panic, car into house, pizzeria owner accused of racism

Here are some stories making headlines across the Hudson Valley.

News 12 Staff

Jun 23, 2021, 10:10 AM

Updated 1,257 days ago

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Here are some stories making headlines across the Hudson Valley.
A traffic stop gone wrong sent Port Jervis police on a car chase into Pennsylvania. Police say a 49-year-old woman sped off as officers tried to pull her over for speeding near Port Jervis Middle School. She hopped on I-84, exiting in Westfall Township, PA before intentionally accelerating on the access boat launch into the Delaware River. Officers were able to rescue the woman from the water. She's at the hospital for treatment and a mental health evaluation.
A false alarm at the Crystal Run Galleria after reports of a man in the parking lot with a gun. The Middletown mall was placed on lockdown around 3 p.m. Police found no threat. They say a woman mistook a shopper, who just purchased a legal gun at a sporting goods store in the mall, as a suspicious, “possibly armed” man.
A car slammed in a home in Yonkers on Tuesday. Police say it happened on Maple Place. No one was injured but the homeowner says his grandchildren usually play in the front yard and is just happy no one was there when it happened.
A pizzeria owner in Orange County is accused of using a racial slur during a customer dispute after a video of the encounter went viral, but the owner disputes that. Cellphone video captured part of the heated exchange on Father's Day at Village Pizzeria in Goshen.
Esther Garcia, 54, says the owner of the pizzeria called her the N-word and made other racially insensitive remarks during a dispute about her order. She then took out her cellphone and started recording the incident. Owner JonPaul Brancato denies using the racial slur and says the video shows what was said after Garcia made racist remarks toward his wife in the video. Garcia denies saying anything to Brancato's wife.