Sex offender commits suicide after chase

Deflation devices stop car after police, sheriff deputies pursue rape suspect.
10-11-2007 New York

A convicted sex offender shot himself in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun near a busy Canastota intersection as two sheriff's deputies and a police officer approached his car Tuesday night after a high-speed chase along Route 5.

Madison County Sheriff Ronald I. Cary said Earl Hartle, 47, of 8830 Eddy Road, Sullivan, was being sought for questioning in connection with a reported rape.

Cary said deputies responded to the rape call at around 7:31 p.m. A 60-year-old woman on Eddy Road told deputies that her hands were tied by a man and she was raped. The woman told police she knew the rapist and was able to describe the vehicle he was driving.

The county's emergency 911 dispatchers broadcast a description of the vehicle, a red 1989 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Cary said a Chittenango police officer saw the car and attempted to pull it over. The driver refused to stop and the officer pursued the suspect's vehicle east on Route 5. The driver entered the town of Lenox, and at that point Madison County sheriff's deputies joined the chase.

Cameras inside the patrol cars recorded the chase. Cary said the video showed Hartle extending what appeared to be the barrel of a shotgun out the driver's side window while he was being pursued. Hartle's vehicle reached speeds of 77 mph during the chase.

Canastota village police set up tire-deflation devices across Route 5 as it enters the business section in Canastota. Both front tires on the car were deflated and the vehicle stopped about 200 feet from the intersection of Main Street, Cary said.

A second sheriff's patrol car arrived on the scene and deputies and the Chittenango officer approached the car from the rear.

Cary said it was then that Hartle discharged a 12-gauge shotgun inside his car in the presence of the officers. He died instantly and was pronounced dead at the scene by Madison County District Attorney Donald Cerio Jr., Cary said.

None of the police officers fired their weapons, Cary said.

Hartle's body was transported to the Onondaga County medical examiner's office in Syracuse for an autopsy, Cary said. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by a gunshot wound to the head.

Cary said Hartle had been convicted of first-degree attempted rape, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and driving while intoxicated. He said deputies recovered items from Hartle's car that linked him to the rape investigation. They also recovered unspent shotgun rounds from the suspect's pockets.

Cary said the rape victim was transported to Oneida Healthcare Center by Rural Metro Ambulance to be treated for injuries she sustained in the attack. ..more.. by Kathy Coffta Sims can be reached at kcoffta@syracuse.com or 470-3253.