2 No. 96
   The People &c.,
   Respondent,
   v.
   Carlos Cintron,
   Appellant.
     _________________________________________________________________

   2000 NY Int. 113

   October 24, 2000

   This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
   in the New York Reports.

   Joshua M. Levine, for appellant.
   Sabine Browne, for respondent.
     _________________________________________________________________

   WESLEY
   , J.:

   On the evening of January 12, 1997, two police officers parked in an
   unmarked car on a one-way street in Brooklyn spotted defendant Carlos
   Cintron when he drove past them in a green 1990 Acura Legend and
   sounded its horn. When the officers entered the license plate number
   into their police vehicle's computer console, they discovered that the
   insurance on the car had been suspended. The officers then decided to
   follow the car.

   After defendant went through a red light at an intersection, forcing
   pedestrians to jump out of the way, the officers turned on their
   flashing lights and siren. Defendant did not stop but instead
   accelerated, leading the officers on a high-speed car chase during
   which he wove in and out of traffic and executed various evasive
   maneuvers. He eventually crashed the vehicle into a guardrail. When
   the officers approached, defendant jumped from the car and ran. A
   foot-chase ensued and the officers ultimately apprehended defendant.
   The officers later learned that the car had been stolen three days
   earlier. Defendant testified at trial that a friend had let him drive
   the car, that he drove away at high speed because he was fleeing from
   a man with a gun, and that he did not hear the police siren or see the
   flashing lights.

   The court did not instruct the jury either on the inference arising
   from the recent and exclusive possession of stolen property (see, 1