An alleged car thief led Suffolk County police on a high-speed chase that ended in a crash that seriously injured a woman in Deer Park on Sunday night, authorities said.
A Highway Patrol officer tried to pull over a 2012 Kia Forte for speeding on the westbound service road of Sunrise Highway at the corner of Commack Road in Islip when the driver refused to stop and sped off at more than 100 mph shortly before 10 p.m., police said.
The fleeing suspect nearly struck several cars and the pursuit was terminated shortly later when the car was lost. Minutes later, First Precinct officers found the car after its driver crashed at the corner of West 6th Street and Central Avenue in Deer Park into a Chevy Trailblazer that caught fire.
The driver of the Kia, which police later learned was reported stolen in Bay Shore on Aug. 27, tried to run away from the scene but officers apprehended him nearby.
He was identified as James Darrow, 49, of Medford, has and taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
A passenger in the Kia, 33-year-old Brooke Moody of Bay Shore, and the driver of the Trailblazer, 42-year-old Frank Cassano of Lindenhurst, were treated at the same hospital.
Darrow was charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless endangerment and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
First Squad detectives impounded the vehicles, are continuing the investigation and ask anyone who may have witnessed the pursuit or the crash to call them at 631-854-8152.
