An alleged drugged driver led Suffolk County authorities on a 13-mile chase on the Long Island Expressway that ended in a crash in Plainview on Tuesday morning.
Suffolk County deputy sheriffs stopped a black car for traffic violations on the eastbound side of the LIE near exit 55 in Brentwood when the driver allegedly sped off at about 11 a.m., according to a spokesman for the Suffolk County sheriff’s department.
“When the deputy exited his vehicle, the subject took off,” said Chief Michael Sharkey, the spokesman.
The driver, 23-year-old William Girardin of Levittown, exited the expressway and then got back on westbound going about 65 mph along the way, Sharkey said.
He then got off at exit 46 and sideswiped two vehicles while trying to squeeze between them at a red light outside of the Holiday Inn on Sunnyside Boulevard before coming to a rest, Sharkey said.
The suspect’s front right tire was flat, and the front bumper and windshield were cracked.
Two children in one of the cars that were struck were evaluated at the scene. There were no reported injuries.
Girardin was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated by drugs, reckless driving, unlawfully fleeing a police officer and unlawful possession of marijuana. He will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip.
“He just bolted,” 24-year-old Matthew Murphy of Levittown, a passenger in the suspect’s vehicle, told the Press. “I was screaming in fear, stop!”
“I never thought he would pull something like this,” he added.
