GUILDERLAND – A man accused of stealing cigars – twice – from a tobacco store at Stuyvesant Plaza was arrested Tuesday for fleeing from police in his Acura on both the Northway and the Thruway.

Keith Wilkins, 51, of Colonie, was also charged with two counts of petit larceny and reckless driving.

On Oct. 22, Wilkins stole $175 worth of cigars from the Edleez tobacco store in Stuyvesant Plaza, according to James Murley, Guilderland’s chief of police.
Wilkins, a car salesman, was caught on a surveillance camera in October, but was not arrested, Murley said. Police were investigating the first robbery, and were able to "close the other case" following Tuesday’s arrest, Murley told The Enterprise.
The employees at Edleez "were waiting for him to come back," said Pam Kaltenbach, an owner. "We’ve all been watching for him," she said.

Wilkins entered the shop at 6:55 p.m. on Jan. 2, said Kaltenbach. Two employees were working and recognized Wilkins from the surveillance video; they alerted Stuyvesant Security and the Guilderland Police, she said.

When the police arrived, Wilkins had already left the store with nearly $125 worth of stolen cigars, and he drove off in his 2001 Acura, Murley said. Wilkins fled the scene in his vehicle, driving recklessly, Murley said.
"A pursuit followed," Kaltenbach said.

Wilkins, while evading police on both the Northway and the Thruway, threw evidence out of the vehicle, Murley told The Enterprise.

He was arrested for breaking a law, named after the late State Trooper Craig Todeschini, which went into effect on Nov. 1, 2006, making fleeing a police officer a class A misdemeanor.

Trooper Todeschini, at age 25 was killed in April of 2006, while pursuing a motorcycle traveling more than 100 miles per hour in Onondaga County, when his SUV hit a tree. The motorcycle driver was later caught, and charged with aggravated manslaughter and aggravated negligent homicide.

Before the new law went into effect, it was not illegal in New York State to flee from police.

Wilkins was charged with third-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.

Wilkins is scheduled to appear in Guilderland Town Court on Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. He could not be reached for comment.
Murley said that Wilkins is "probably the first one" to be arrested by Guilderland Police for fleeing a police officer, since the law passed in November.
Kaltenbach said that Edleez has an excellent security system that has paid for itself, because, she said of theft, "Unfortunately, it does happen."
She said that Wilkins, on both occasions he stole cigars from her store, "always pays for one cigar when he leaves."

Kaltenbach told The Enterprise that she was very pleased with the outstanding job done by her two employees, the Stuyvesant Security and the Guilderland Police Department.