PATCHOGUE, NY — 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, Suffolk police said.
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.
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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.
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Police were notified at around 3:30 a.m. and detectives from the 5th Squad in Patchogue are investigating, police said.
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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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