BETHLEHEM — A Troy woman who drove onto a soccer field in Bethlehem last year in an attempt to evade police after stealing from a Walmart store has been sentenced on reckless endangerment and burglary charges.
April A. Mahoney, 49, was sentenced to 2½ to 5 years in prison for third-degree burglary and 1 year in prison for first-degree reckless endangerment, before Judge William Little in Albany County Court on Thursday. The latter sentence will be served concurrently.
Mahoney was arrested last fall after a police chase ended when she drove down an embankment and onto soccer fields at Elm Avenue Park as children played.
The incident began at 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, 2025, when town police were called to investigate a larceny at the Walmart at 311 Route 9W. Police spotted a Ford Escape pulling out of the parking lot, and an officer tried to stop the vehicle.
Police said the vehicle “fled at a high rate of speed” on Route 9W before heading west on Feura Bush Road before reaching the park.
After driving onto the field, Mahoney and her two passengers abandoned the car and ran into a wooded area near the park. Town police arrested them shortly afterward.
Mahoney was initially charged with a variety of felonies and misdemeanors, including first-degree reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, conspiracy, reckless driving, petit larceny and resisting arrest.
Police later found evidence that Mahoney had participated in multiple thefts around Bethlehem, resulting in the third-degree burglary charge she pleaded guilty to, according to the district attorney’s office.