Man Sentenced to Jail after Stealing Co-worker’s Truck in Ulysses and Crashing it in New York

COUDERSPORT – A New York man has been sentenced to county jail for stealing his co-worker’s pickup truck and then crashing it.

James R. Freyna, 26, of Rouses Point, NY was sentenced by Judge Stephen Minor on Wednesday, December 7 in Potter County court after pleading guilty to one count of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle(M2). Freyna was sentenced to spend 1 to 23 1/2 months in jail, perform 20 hours of community service, pay a $300 fine and attend Drug and Alcohol classes. He was granted 19 days against his minimum sentence for time served.

Freyna was originally charged by State Police in Coudersport after he allegedly stole the pickup truck from a co-worker, Ronald Nichols, of Ulysses, later crashing it in New York.

Before stealing the pickup truck, Freyna spent the day at Nichol’s home, watching television. Nichols later told police he left Freyna at his home at approximately 10:00 p.m. to go to his girlfriend’s house. At 1:00 p.m. Nichols received a call from New York police telling him his truck had been crashed. Nichols identified the truck and told authorities that Freyna had never driven his vehicles before and did not have permission to drive his truck.

In addition to charges in Pennsylvania, Freyna was arrested for DUI and other related offenses in New York at the time of the crash.