Crime & Safety
Long Island Detectives Combing Video From 'Illegal Car Meet' Investigation: Cops
UPDATE: It's to hold motorists accountable for reckless driving and identify spectators for unlawful assembly, police say.
PATCHOGUE, NY — Investigators are reviewing videos and gathering additional evidence to hold motorists accountable for reckless driving and are also aiming to identify spectators engaged in unlawful assembly as part of their continuing investigation into illegal car meets over the weekend, police said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS, a confidential police hotline.
Detectives are investigating whether two incidents early Sunday morning — a "car meet" in Patchogue where a woman was injured and the driver of a vehicle was arrested, and calls for vehicles blocking traffic in Shirley and Sound Beach — are connected, police said.
Find out what's happening in Patchoguefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Officers were first called to Gateway Plaza, the location of the car meet, at around 1:15 a.m., and while they were dispersing people from the area, one motorist drove recklessly, and sped away, according to police.
A 19-year-old man from Roosevelt was found a short time later and charged with third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors, police said.
Find out what's happening in Patchoguefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A 19-year-old woman, who was watching the car meet in the parking lot, was struck by a vehicle, which was doing donuts before speeding away around the time officers arrived, police said, adding that she went to the hospital herself for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Police were notified at around 3:30 a.m. and detectives from the 5th Squad in Patchogue are investigating, police said.
A short time after the incident in Patchogue, officers were called to William Floyd Parkway in Shirley and also Route 25 A in Sound Beach and Miller Place for vehicles in the roadway obstructing traffic, and dispersed them, according to police.
A 2023 Dodge was impounded in Shirley after the vehicle stalled and the driver bolted, police said.
Investigators declined to release any additional information, a police spokeswoman said Monday.
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