Officer Fights For His Life After High-Speed Chase, Crash On LI: PD

BRENTWOOD, NY —A Brentwood man involved in a high-speed car chase and crash that left a Suffolk County police officer fighting for his life on Sunday evening has been arrested on multiple charges, according to Suffolk County Police.

Cody Fisher, 29, was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and reckless driving after speeding "95 and 100 miles per hour" in a 2021 Ford Mustang on the Long Island Expressway while Officer Brendon Gallagher tried to pull him over, police said.

Gallagher was on duty and driving a Suffolk PD SUV when he attempted to pull Fisher over near Exit 55, police said. During a high-speed chase, Fisher "sideswiped" Gallagher's vehicle, the officer's SUV flew off the road, struck a tree, and overturned; Fisher hit a light post, said Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring during a press conference on Monday.

Fisher was transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

He was released and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, second-degree assault, second-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, and reckless driving, police said. Waring said Fisher was already on probation for weapons charges. He is being arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Monday.

Officials said it took crews "over 30 minutes" to remove Gallagher from the vehicle and he was "white and in shock" upon arrival. He was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with a torn aorta, "barely any blood pressure," and a "completely split abdominal wall," said doctor James Vosswinkel, SBUH's chief of Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care.

"Right when he came in I was able to ascertain that he had a belly full of blood, he was bleeding internally," Vosswinkel said, an injury he'd "not seen" in 23 years on the job.

Waring said that Gallagher has been on the force for three years and suffered an on-duty stabbing in late December 2022 in Medford.

He added that in his short time on the force, Gallagher has received eight awards, including two department recognitions, a Purple Heart Medal, a Combat Gold Medal, and Cop of the Year.

"The nature of his injuries are so severe, they are typically considered not survivable," Waring added. "The fact that he is still here with us is nothing short of a miracle."

He then asked the public to "keep positive thoughts" for his recovery.

Waring said the crash is still an open investigation.