LI Officer On Life Support After High-Speed Crash Improving: PD

BRENTWOOD, NY — Brendon Gallagher— the Suffolk County Police Officer who was airlifted and hospitalized after a high-speed car chase and crash hospitalized him with a torn aorta and split abdomen—has been "upgraded to fair condition" and is off the ventilator, police told Patch on Monday.

Gallagher was in critical condition and on life support since the evening of Jan. 5. He was on duty at an unrelated traffic stop when he tried to pull over a 2021 Ford Mustang driven by Cody Fisher, 29, of Brentwood, who drove by going 95 to 100 miles an hour near Exit 55 on the Long Island Expressway.

Fisher tried to flee in a high-speed chase and eventually "sideswiped" Gallagher's vehicle, causing the officer's SUV to fly off the road, strike a tree, and overturn.

Fisher crashed into a light post and was placed in custody by off-duty Nassau County Officer Timothy Deegan, who happened to be passing by on his way to work, police said.

After EMS rescued Gallagher from the "tangled mess" his SUV became while "controlling his hemorrhaging," he was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with injuries "so severe, they are typically considered not survivable," said Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring during a press conference on Monday.

Upon arrival, Gallagher was under the care of doctor James Vosswinkel, SBUH's chief of Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care—the same surgeon who saved his life two years before after the brutal stabbing that nearly cost him his life.

"Right when he came in I was able to ascertain that he had a belly full of blood, he was bleeding internally," Vosswinkel said at the press conference. "We also saw—and this is something I've not seen in my entire 23-year career on someone who's lived — he split his entire abdominal wall open across his pelvis. Through the skin, through the muscle, it was completely lacerated open. It was a very, very dire time at that point."

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

While Gallagher fights for his life for the second time, Long Island is honoring him as the dedicated officer that he is. Waring said 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."

Waring said the crash is still an open investigation.