BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — An Erie County man has pleaded guilty to stealing and fleeing in a New York State police vehicle while being arrested on a warrant in October.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 41-year-old Bryan D. Ells, of Brant, pleaded guilty in Erie County Court to one count of third-degree grand larceny and one count of third-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.
According to the district attorney's office, on October 17 a New York State Trooper initiated a traffic stop for a traffic violation on Aldrich Street in the Village of Gowanda. Ells was a passenger in the vehicle and was wanted on a warrant from Chautauqua County. He was handcuffed and placed in the rear of a State Police patrol vehicle.
While the vehicle was being searched, Ells escaped the rear seat and drove off in the patrol vehicle. The district attorney's office said the patrol vehicle was found occupied on Gowanda Zoar Road in the Town of Collins. When Ells was located by members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office he intentionally drove the stolen patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed and nearly hit a sheriff’s office vehicle. The vehicle was later found unoccupied on Eaton Road in Versailles and Ells was found inside a nearby residence where he was taken into custody.
Ells faces a maximum of seven years in prison when he is sentenced on February 20, 2025. He remains held without bail.
