Woman Crashes Stolen Car Head-On Into Police Cruiser On Long Island Expressway: Cops

RONKONKOMA, NY —A Holtsville woman led officers on a chase in a stolen car before crashing it into a marked police vehicle in Ronkonkoma on Saturday night, Suffolk police said.

Sixth Precinct officers found the stolen 2007 Toyota Corolla parked on Patchogue-Holbrook Road in Holbrook at around 7:25 p.m., police said, adding that a woman inside saw them approaching, backed out of the parking space and into a police vehicle before driving away and entering the Long Island Expressway westbound at Exit 61.

The Toyota left the LIE at Exit 60, to Express Drive North, turned around, and then drove the wrong way back to Exit 61, where it re-entered the westbound LIE, according to police.

The woman then drove the Toyota to Exit 58 and again drove the wrong way on Express Drive North, police said, adding that at some point, she re-entered the LIE from an exit ramp and began traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.

A Highway Patrol officer traveling westbound saw the Toyota approaching, activated lights and sirens, and slowed down as it crashed into his vehicle head-on between Exit 58 and Exit 59, police said.

The highway patrol officer sustained minor injuries, according to police.

The driver of the Toyota, Nina Cahill, got out of the vehicle and tried to flee on foot, but the officer quickly apprehended her and placed her under arrest just after 8p.m., police said.

Cahill, 41, of Holtsville, was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property. She was additionally charged in connection with a bank robbery in Selden on Friday, police said.

She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip and was released on $1 bail on Sunday, according to online court records.

It was not immediately clear if Cahill has an attorney.