3 Family Members Indicted Over Sunrise Highway Brawl: Suffolk DA

LINDENHURST, NY — Three people have been indicted over a brawl that broke out on Sunrise Highway Dec. 20.

Patrick J. O’Connor, James O’Connor and a minor, were indicted for second degree assault and other related charges, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Friday.

"As alleged, these defendants brazenly began a physical brawl in the middle of Sunrise Highway, putting their family and the public at serious risk of harm," Tierney said. "Fortunately, there were not more serious injuries or casualties that resulted out of this violent feud."

Prosecutors alleged that Patrick O’Connor and a 32-year-old cousin had an encounter in a Centereach restaurant Dec. 17 which escalated to the point that Patrick O’Connor attempted to strike his cousin with beer bottles.

Three days later, Patrick O’Connor and his cousin saw each other again in Hauppauge. The cousin and his father then got into a white GMC Sierra pickup truck and followed the Ford F-150 pickup truck that Patrick O’Connor was driving, prosecutors said.

The DA said that as both vehicles approached the vicinity of Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst, James O’Connor, Patrick O’Connor’s son, arrived in a Toyota Tundra with his three younger
siblings, ages 16, 12, and 4, in the car. Prosecutors said James O’Connor rammed the back of the GMC Sierra, causing his own vehicle to flip onto its side.

None of the children in the Toyota were injured, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that when the cousin and his father exited their GMC Sierra, Patrick O’Connor repeatedly struck the cousin on the head with a wooden stick. James O’Connor began to assault the cousin while Patrick O’Connor and the minor continued to strike him with the wooden sticks.

Prosecutors said the cousin’s brother showed up to the scene during the fight and was similarly
assaulted. Unrelated civilians intervened. The O'Connor adults then fled with the children, prosecutors said.

The melee was caught on video.

They were apprehended by members of the Suffolk County Police Department later that day, the DA said.

The cousins were treated at Good Samaritan hospital, prosecutors said. One of them received staples to his head, suffered two black eyes, and had significant bruising and pain in his shoulder and back, prosecutors said. The other suffered an abrasion to his lip, bruising and cuts to his hands, and head and back pain.

Prosecutors did not say what injuries the O'Connors received.

At their arraignment Dec. 21, they were identified as recently-arrived residents of England, Newsday reported.

James O’Connor, 19, is charged with:

• Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D felonies;
• One count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor;
• Two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Class A misdemeanors;
• One count of Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting, a traffic infraction.

Patrick O’Connor, 38, is charged with:

• Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D felonies;
• One count of Attempted Assault in the Second Degree, a Class E felony; and
• One count of Menacing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.

The minor, whose name police did not release, was indicted for two counts of second-degree assault, Class D felonies.

On Jan. 4, all three were arraigned on the indictment by Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Karen Kerr.

Justice Kerr ordered James O’Connor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially secured bond, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on Jan. 23. Patch reached to his attorney, Eric Besso, Esq.

Justice Kerr ordered Patrick O’Connor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000
partially secured bond, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on Jan. 17. Patch reached out to his attorney, Emrah Artukmac, Esq.

Justice Kerr ordered the minor held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $500,000 partially
secured bond, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court Jan. 17, and is being represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Maria Troulakis and Jonathan
Cappiello of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective John Caraccia
of the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Squad.