Long Island Woman In High-Speed LIE Chase That Injured 1 Officer Indicted

RIVERSIDE, NY — A woman who led officers on a high-speed chase on the Long Island Expressway in a stolen car that she used to rob a bank faces upgraded charges as part of an indictment unveiled in a Riverside courtroom on Tuesday, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said.

Nina Cahill, 42, of Holtsville, was indicted for fourth-degree grand larceny, and other related charges, for stealing a vehicle, using it to rob a bank, and then leading officers through two car chases, including one that resulted in the injury of a highway patrol officer, according to prosecutors.

On Sept. 4, Cahill swiped a 2007 Toyota Corolla from the valet stand at the Stony Brook University Hospital Emergency Room, and two days later, on Sept. 6, she drove it to a bank in Selden where she passed a teller a note demanding all the money in the teller’s drawer before making off with around $500, prosecutors said.

The following day, Sept. 7, Cahill was involved in two separate high-speed pursuits throughout Suffolk, including the Long Island Expressway, prosecutors said, adding that in the first, at around 3:30 p.m., Cahill was driving the stolen car in Lake Ronkonkoma when police spotted her, and when an officer activated his lights to pull her over, she sped away.

That pursuit was terminated for safety reasons, prosecutors said.

Around four hours later at 7:30 p.m., Cahill was again spotted in the stolen Corolla, this time in a parking lot north of the Long Island Expressway, near Exit 61, and when officers tried to approach her, she backed out of the parking space into an unmarked police car before she sped off toward Exit 61 of the westbound Long Island Expressway, according to prosecutors.

Cahill then exited the LIE at Exit 60 to Express Drive North, reversed direction, and then drove against traffic on the westbound lanes until Exit 61, where she re-entered the westbound LIE, prosecutors said, adding that she then drove on the LIE until she exited at Exit 58, and then again drove the wrong way on the westbound Express Drive North.

At some point, she re-entered the LIE from an exit ramp and continued traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes before ultimately colliding head-on with highway patrol car, and then tried to run away before she was caught, according to prosecutors.

“The defendant allegedly compounded her already serious crimes by recklessly attempting to evade responsibility by fleeing from police," Tierney said, adding that, "in so doing, the defendant endangered passing motorists and ultimately injured a police officer. The defendant will be held accountable for her alleged actions through the broad array of charges contained in this comprehensive indictment.”

Cahill has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault, and one count each of third-degree robbery, first-degree reckless endangerment, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and grand larceny, all felonies, as well as second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

She has been additionally charged with one count each of fourth-degree criminal mischief, and two counts each of unlawful fleeing of a police officer, one count of petit larceny, and two counts of reckless driving, all misdemeanors.

Cahill was ordered held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $1,000,000 partially-secured bond, during the pendency of the case. She is due back in court on Oct. 15.

Patch has reached out to her attorney, Maxwell Chase Brown of Central Islip, for comment.