Jury finds son, father guilty in connection with Port chase

nvicted a 24-year-old man and his father of crimes they were charged with after the son led a Port Washington police officer on a chase in January.

After a one-day trial on Tuesday, Aug. 13, the jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes before finding Kelvyn R. Larsson guilty of one felony count of fleeing an officer and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.

The panel found his father, 49-year-old Ross Larsson, guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. 

The day after the trial, Reserve Judge Dennis Moroney withheld a prison sentence for Kelvyn Larsson and placed him on probation for four years for fleeing an officer. Moroney ruled that Larsson’s criminal record can be expunged if he completes probation.

The judge also sentenced the younger Larsson to 60 days in jail for resisting an officer. 

Ross Larsson, who represented himself during court proceedings, was sentenced to two days in jail and given credit for time he served behind bars after being arrested.

During a preliminary hearing in May, Port Washington police officer Kirstin Moertl testified that she was on routine traffic patrol at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, when she ran the registration of a car on South Spring Street.

When records showed that the owner of the car did not have a driver’s license, she attempted to pull the vehicle over. But instead of stopping, the driver of the car, Kelvyn Larsson, turned onto Grand Avenue, drove west “very fast,” then turned onto North Garfield Avenue and into the driveway of his parents’ home, Moertl said. 

Kelvyn Larsson got out of the car and, defying Moertl’s orders to stop, ran toward the house, she said, adding that she grabbed him by the jacket.

“I was struggling with him,” Moertl testified. “I had pulled out my Taser.” 

Moertl testified that Ross Larsson pulled his son into the house, then slammed the door shut on her, but Larsson’s wife Amy testified that he was not near the door when their son burst into the house and that neither she nor her husband knew what was going on.

In addition to disorderly conduct, Ross Larsson was initially charged with obstructing an officer, but that charge was dropped after the preliminary hearing.

After Kelvyn Larsson disappeared into the house, Moertl called for backup, and as other officers were arriving, Ross Larsson walked outside, sat on a ledge and began shouting at officers, telling them to “get off his (expletive) property,” according to the criminal complaint. He was arrested.

Moertl obtained a warrant and searched the house looking for Kelvyn Larsson and a shoulder bag he was carrying. The officer found no signs of either, but talked to Larsson’s mother, who said her son was just coming home from work and had done nothing wrong, the complaint states.

A warrant was issued for Kelvyn Larsson’s arrest, and by Thursday, Jan. 17, he was in custody, according to court records.