A 36-year-old man died early Thursday after jumping into the Erie Canal in Western New York while fleeing from police during a traffic stop, according to police.
The incident began at approximately 1:12 a.m. Thursday, when a City of Tonawanda police officer observed a gray Volvo sedan commit a traffic violation at the intersection of Main Street and Niagara Street. The vehicle traveled northbound over the Renaissance Bridge into North Tonawanda, where an officer initiated a traffic stop on Webster Street.
The driver fled on foot, leading officers on a chase that went eastbound along a nearby building and into an alley. The pursuit continued southbound through an alley toward Gateway Harbor along the Erie Canal, where the man jumped into the water in an attempt to evade police…