Police: Man who crashed after fleeing checkpoint didn't have license

PHOTOGRAPHER: New York State Police (inset); Peter Barber/Gazette Photographer (background)

Troopers arrest Miguel Jackson at the scene late Saturday. Jackson's mugshot (inset)

SCHENECTADY — A state trooper suffered minor injuries during a brief chase that was sparked by a man who fled a DWI checkpoint Saturday night, state police said Monday.

Miguel J. Jackson, 31, of Schenectady, is accused of making an illegal U-turn as he approached the checkpoint at Erie Boulevard and Maxon Road Extension, state police spokeswoman Kerra Burns said. Troopers later learned Jackson was driving without a valid license, Burns said.

Trooper Matthew Bowers chased Jackson and attempted to pull him over, Burns said. Jackson lost control of his vehicle at the traffic circle at Rivers Casino, and Bowers could not avoid striking Jackson’s car, Burns said.

Images: DWI checkpoint crash in Schenectady, Feb. 3, 2019

Both vehicles ended up off the traffic circle and in an adjacent parking lot. Bowers suffered minor injuries in the crash and was treated and released from the hospital, Burns said.

After the crash, Jackson fled on foot, though officers caught apprehended him on Front Street.

He faces misdemeanor counts of unlawfully fleeing an officer and aggravated unlicensed operation.

Mark Campolieto, Jr. (New York State Police)

Troopers also released information about a second person arrested as a result of the checkpoint.

Mark Campolieto Jr., 39, was charged about an hour before Bowers was arrested. Campolieto faces one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, along with violation marijuana possession.

Campolieto encountered the checkpoint just before 11 p.m. Troopers stopped him for an expired inspection sticker, state police said. He was arraigned and ordered held on $5,000 bail.

The Erie Boulevard checkpoint was among several statewide for Super Bowl weekend. Schenectady police assisted at the Erie Boulevard checkpoint.

Also Monday: