Particle.news
Download on the App Store

New York Man Gets 40 Years for I-95 Box-Truck Chase That Gravely Injured Harford County Deputy

Prosecutors won a tougher-than-guidelines plea based on the deputy’s lasting injuries.

Overview

  • Juan Yahir Quiroz Manzueta, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder, burglary and fleeing, drawing a 40-year sentence with 20 years before parole.
  • A Harford County judge accepted a plea above the 15 to 25 year guidelines and ordered five years of supervised probation to follow.
  • The August 2025 chase began after a cooking-oil theft and saw a rented Penske box truck drive the wrong way on I-95 and hit several vehicles, including a U.S. Mail truck.
  • Lt. Robert Burgess was struck while deploying stop sticks and now lives with lasting brain and physical injuries, though he has returned to work.
  • Investigators used the truck’s GPS and a smashed cellphone to track Manzueta to New Rochelle, where U.S. Marshals arrested him, and deputies linked the cargo to an Applebee’s theft and similar heists tied to biodiesel resale.