After 100 MPH Police Chase Called Off, Fiery Deer Park Crash Involving Stolen Car

Update:  James Darrow, 49, of Medford, has been identified as the driver of the stolen vehicle involved in the crash, police said. Darrow is charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless endangerment and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He will be arraigned at a later date.

A passenger in a stolen vehicle was seriously injured in a crash in Deer Park Sunday night which occurred shortly after Suffolk Police called off a high-speed pursuit of the car, police said. 

According to police, a highway patrol officer pulled over the 2012 Kia Forte at 9:58 p.m. for speeding on the westbound service road of Sunrise Highway at Commack Road in Islip.

When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver sped away and a pursuit was initiated, police said. The pursuit was called off after it exceeded 100 mph and several cars were almost struck by the fleeing vehicle, which had been reported stolen in Bay Shore on Aug. 27, police said. 

Shortly after the pursuit ended and the officer lost a visual on the Kia near Grand Boulevard in Deer Park, the stolen vehicle crashed into a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer at the intersection of W. 6th Street and Central Avenue in Deer Park.

The crash, which occurred at 10:06 p.m., caused the Trailblazer to catch fire and the driver of the Kia attempted to flee on foot but officers were able to apprehend him a short distance from the scene of the crash, police said. 

The passenger in the Kia, Brooke Moody, 33, of Bay Shore, was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip with serious head and facial injuries. The driver of the Kia, a white male in his 40s who has yet to be identified, was taken to Good Samaritan with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Trailblazer, Frank Cassano, 42, of Lindenhurst, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was also treated at Good Samaritan. 

Both vehicles involved in the crash were impounded for safety checks and police said charges are pending as the investigation continues. Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the pursuit or the crash to call the First Squad at 631-854-8152.