Driver of stolen W.B. Mason truck charged after NYPD chase that injured dozens

Cops have charged the driver of a stolen W.B. Mason truck who injured 26 people during a wild five-mile police pursuit through Staten Island, officials said Friday.

Michael Rompa, 48, was charged with multiple counts of assault, reckless endangerment, car theft and other charges after he slammed the stolen truck into more than 40 vehicles as he tried to escape police, cops said.

His arraignment in Richmond County Criminal Court was pending Friday.

The crazed chase occurred as cops switch up their tactics on handling police pursuits following a handful of headline-grabbing crashes, including one back in August when a driver in a stolen car fleeing police injured 10 people after he careened across a busy Manhattan sidewalk.

Rompa stole the truck in New Jersey on Thursday, cops said. He smashed into several New Jersey police cars as the officers pursued him to their side of the Hudson River, then radioed ahead to the NYPD, alerting them that he was heading toward Staten Island.

Cops were called when the stolen truck was spotted near the corner of Bishop St. and Cranford Ave. in Richmondtown at about 5:50 p.m., cops said.

The officers tried to pull Rompa over, but the car thief put the truck in reverse and backed into three trailing NYPD cruisers. One of the cruisers, which belonged to the 122nd Precinct’s executive officer, became entangled with the rear of the truck and was dragged for about 40 feet before being dislodged.

As the crazed police pursuit continued on, Rompa slammed the box truck into 38 vehicles that were either parked or being driven on Staten Island streets, cops said. He also slammed into four police cars trying to pull him over.

The chase ended about five miles from where it began, near the corner of Van Duzer and Beech Sts. in Stapleton, after Rompa rammed the W.B. Mason truck into the back of a parked car.

The truck hit the car with so much force that it ended up getting wedged under the vehicle parked in front of it, cops said. At least four cars were damaged as the W.B. Mason truck finally came to a stop.

Rompa was taken into custody without incident and brought to an area hospital with minor injuries.

Cops estimate he was going about 40 mph as he tried to evade police.

“He was hell bent on getting away,” a police source with knowledge of the case said. “He was not stopping for anyone. Even if we tried to box him in with barriers he would have drove right through them because he knew he was going to jail.”

Nineteen motorists and their passengers suffered injuries as Rompa slammed into their vehicles during his ongoing bumper-car breakaway from pursuing police. Seven officers were also injured.

None of the injuries were considered serious.

Rompa is wanted for numerous prior crimes both in Staten Island and in New Jersey, and is believed to have stolen at least three vehicles between both jurisdictions, cops said.

NYPD supervisors approved the pursuit as it was happening, the source said.

“It happened so suddenly,” the source added.

The Police Department has no formal definition of a vehicle pursuit — although a working group is putting one together — and has no data regarding how many pursuits its officers have been involved in.

The NYPD this past summer tweaked its approach to vehicle pursuits, opting to use drones and other forms of technology to track fleeing suspects, particularly those sought for less serious crimes, officials said. It is also communicating more with suburban authorities about suspects heading into or out of the city and opting when possible to have cops create roadblocks ahead of a suspect rather than speed behind them.

The measures, put in place to reduce the risks posed by pursuits, were taken after several cop car crashes occurred following a public pronouncement that police were not going to let fleeing suspects get a pass.

“People thinking they can take off on us — those days are over,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference in July. “The days of driving around this city, lawless, doing what you think you’re going to do — those days are over.”

By the end of October, 30 cops have been warned and received intervention by NYPD brass about how they conduct car chases, yet more needs to be done, critics have said.