3 To 6 Years For Driver In Long Island Crash That Seriously Injured 73-Year-Old Woman: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Patchogue man was sentenced to three to six years in prison for driving a car he swiped while under the influence of alcohol and causing a four-car crash in North Patchogue that left a 73-year-old woman seriously injured, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Monday.

On June 15, 2023, at around 7 p.m., Jeffrey Edsall, 52, was driving a stolen blue 2001 Ford Explorer northbound on North Ocean Avenue, and video surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the vehicle rear-end an SUV, which was waiting to make a left turn into a
parking lot, prosecutors said.

The force of the crash caused the SUV to be pushed forward several feet and the stolen vehicle to spin into the oncoming southbound lane where it collided with two other vehicles, one of which had a 73-year-old woman, prosecutors said, adding that as a result of the crash, she suffered a broken nose, a fractured right wrist, a fractured right leg that required surgery, and other physical injuries.

Edsall was ejected from the stolen vehicle and found lying unresponsive nearby before being taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where a sample of his blood was obtained by staff, according to prosecutors.

His blood later revealed his blood alcohol concentration was .13 percent at the time the blood was drawn, prosecutors said.

Tierney called Edsall's actions "are every driver’s worst nightmare."

“My office recommended this defendant be sentenced to the maximum allowed by law because his brazen actions caused a four-car collision and seriously injured a passenger in one of those
vehicles," he said.

In January, Edsall pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and driving while intoxicated.

His sentence includes five years of post-release supervision.

Edsall was represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, which does not comment on cases.