By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff
kwind@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/KyleatFreeman

BARCLAY HEIGHTS, N.Y. — A 27-year-old man who is a “person of interest” in a series of robberies fled from police in Barclay Heights Thursday afternoon but was taken into custody soon afterward, a deputy U.S. marshal said.

Upon seeing a police presence, 27-year-old Darryl Conklin fled the Wenton Motel room in which he had been living but was taken into custody about a quarter mile away, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Stu Smith.

Mike Woerner, supervisor of the U.S. Marshal’s New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, said Conklin jumped out the back window before taking off, and authorities quickly formed a perimeter around the area.

The incident began shortly after 3 p.m., prompting the Saugerties school district to delay some bus runs and briefly go into a lock-down where students had not yet been dismissed, said town Deputy Police Chief Joseph Sinagra.

It “couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” said Sinagra. “We had school buses that were coming and actually wanted to stop at this particular location, and we flagged them out of the area.”

All buses were on the road shortly after Conklin was taken into custody, and some high school students were curious about what was happening as they walked past the motel between 3:30 and 4 p.m., where officers from several agencies including state police, Saugerties town police, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, Kingston police and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office gathered after assisting with the search.

Smith said “there were indications” Conklin was armed when he took off, and in the robberies to which authorities suspect Conklin, a handgun was displayed.

Authorities, however, recovered a fake handgun Smith described as black and “real-looking.”

“Any time we have a report than an individual may be armed, we like to bring in extra additional officers to try to locate the individual as quickly as possible to prevent any tragedy from happening,” said Sinagra.

Saugerties resident Stacy Jordel was having lunch at the nearby McDonald’s as the events played out. She recalled watching police run around and jump into the motel’s trash receptacle as they searched the area. Continued...

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“They were flying around the building,” said Jordel.

The events shook up the children in the Play Palace, including Jordel’s 5-year-old son.

“‘Mommy, I’m scared,’” Jordel recalled her son saying.

In addition to being a “person of interest” in robberies, including at least one in the Ellenville area where Conklin is from, Conklin was wanted on an arrest warrant for violating his probation on a felony burglary conviction, Smith said.

Woerner said Conklin had violated his probation by failing to appear before his parole officer.

Conklin had been previously featured by the Freeman on its 'Wanted Suspects' page.

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