Nassau Man Assaulted Officers After Fleeing Crash: Police

PLAINVIEW, NY — A Woodbury man was arrested Thursday after he assaulted officers who were trying to arrest him for fleeing a car crash, police said.

Terrance Clifford, 32, was driving a 2016 Toyota sedan north on Manetto Hill Road around 7:30 a.m. when he struck a 2018 Mazda SUV, police said. The crash caused the Mazda to hit a 2021 Dodge Ram. The drivers of the two cars both sustained minor injuries, but declined to be taken to a hospital, police said.

After the crash, Clifford fled on foot, police said, heading northeast on Washington Avenue. Police later located him and tried to place him under arrest. During his arrest, police say he became combative and injured two officers.

Both the officers and Clifford were taken to a hospital for assessment and treatment.

Clifford is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of an incident and multiple vehicle and traffic law violations. He is scheduled to be arraigned later today in First District Court in Hempstead.