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Man With Crack Pipe Leads Police on Wild Car Chase Uptown, Prosecutors Say

 Police said the chase for John Maldonado, 35, started in Washington Heights and continued in Inwood.
Police said the chase for John Maldonado, 35, started in Washington Heights and continued in Inwood.
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Craig Elimeliah

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — An out-of-control driver with a suspended license and a crack pipe behind his seat led police on a wild chase through Washington Heights and Inwood Monday night, officials said.

Police said the chase started when John Maldonado, 35, from Hamilton Heights, drove his gray 2003 Land Rover from Broadway onto Wadsworth Ave. near 173rd Street, some time before 7:30 p.m. and headed north in the wrong direction. 

Officers tried to stop Maldonado, signaling with lights and sirens, but he swerved in and out of traffic, sped through a gas station on W. 173rd St. and kept going north on Broadway, police said.

Maldonado drove up onto the sidewalk, narrowly missing several people who had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.   

Police said they briefly lost sight of Maldonado, but were able to locate him again shortly on Dyckman St. and Henshaw St. in Inwood, where he again sped the wrong way against the one-way flow of traffic on Henshaw St., slamming into several parked cars and a cab.

The cab driver suffered pain to the head, neck and back as a result of the hits from the crash, the DA said.

Maldonado continued to drive down Riverside Drive after the crash, but eventually abandoned the car near 177th St. and tried to run away from police, they said.

When officers approached him, Maldonado resisted arrest, flailing his arm and kicking his legs, officials said.

Officers found a crack pipe behind the driver’s seat, according to the District Attorney's office.

Maldonado was charged with two counts of assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a controlled substance, fleeing an officer and reckless driving, according to prosecutors.

His bail was set at $5,000 cash and he's due back in court on June 10.  

His lawyer did not immediately reply to requests for comment.