Douglaston Man Accused of Crashing Stolen Livery Cab

A 21-year-old Douglaston Hill man was arrested after he allegedly careened a livery car into a utility pole just after midnight on Wednesday.

Joseph Emmerich is accused of assaulting a driver for Ollie’s Cab Company within the confines of Douglas Manor in the waning minutes of March 1, police said.

The defendant was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on charges of robbery, assault, unauthorized use of a vehicle, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, theft of service, criminal possession of a weapon, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest, a spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison, the DA’s spokeswoman said.

Emmerich allegedly drove south on West Drive at a high rate of speed, but lost control of the late model Lincoln Town Car as he reached the intersection of West, 38th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway, police said.

The limo crossed into the oncoming lane and went airborne when it hit the curb, crashing into a utility pole just south of the intersection, police said. The crash left the car perched on the stump and at least one nearby home without power.

“I was in bed when I heard this tremendous ‘boom’ and then a car horn blaring for several minutes,” said one neighbor who asked not to be identified. “I thought for sure somebody had to be killed.”

Police said Emmerich extricated himself from the passenger compartment, which was partially crushed from the impact of the sheared pole. Within minutes, he was nabbed by 111th Precinct cops as he was walking over the Long Island Rail Road overpass and returned to the scene.

Emmerich was arrested after representatives of the cab company confirmed he was not one of their drivers and taken to a local hospital.

“He was pretty heavily intoxicated,” a police source said. “When he woke up chained to the bed, he asked the cop, ‘Am I in the hospital?’”

“The cop was like, ‘Dude, you’ve got a drinking problem,’” the source said.

According to Larry Blessinger of Ollie’s Cab, “The driver is pretty much okay – he got hit in the head. But the car is a wreck.”

Nathan Duke contributed to this article.