1 Caught With Drugs After Bolting From Officers In Stolen Mercedes, Crashing It Into Pickup In Shirley: Cops

MASTIC, NY — A Coram woman was in a fight with a man, and bolted in a stolen Mercedes from responding officers, then crashed it into a pickup with a plow in Shirley on Tuesday afternoon, a Suffolk police spokesperson said.

The scenario began to unfold when officers from the 7th Precinct in Shirley were called to Montauk Highway, near Titmus Drive, in Mastic, for a report of a man and woman fighting at around 12:40 p.m., according to police.

The man booked it on foot, but the woman, Amina Atelek, drove away in a 2019 Mercedes, which was stolen from a location in Yaphank in August, police said.

The man, Darrel Thomas, was found nearby, and the woman, Atelek, was found a short time later nearly three miles away, on Victory Avenue, after having crashed into the pickup truck, according to police.

Both Atelek, 25, and Thomas, 25, of Gordon Heights, were charged with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, for having the swiped Mercedes, police said.

Atelek was also charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and reckless driving, both misdemeanors, and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash, an infraction, according to police.

She was additionally charged with three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a narcotic, both felonies, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanors, for having drugs in the vehicle when she was arrested, a police spokesperson said.

Thomas was also charged with obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor, police said.

No one was hurt, according to police.

Further details were not released.

The incident sparked conversation on social media, as residents living in the area wondered why there was a large police presence in several locations close to each other.

Both Atelek and Thomas pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in First District Court in Central Islip and were released on their own recognizance, online court records show.

Atelek's attorney, Michael David Elbert of Melville, was not immediately available.

Patch has reached out to Thomas' attorney, Scott Lockwood of Deer Park, for comment.

Thomas is due back in court on Jan. 13, and Atelek on Jan. 20, court records show.