BMW Flees Stop, Crashes And Catches Fire In Dix Hills; Gun Found: Cops

DIX HILLS, NY — A loaded handgun was found when a group of four people were pulled from a fiery car wreck after the driver fled a traffic stop and crashed it in Dix Hills early Thursday, Suffolk police said.

Around 1 a.m., two officers saw a 2018 BMW speeding and swerving on Route 231 near Commack Road, police said. They activated their overhead lights to pull over the car.

But the driver didn't stop, police said, and the officers turned off their lights and halted the traffic stop attempt. A short time later, Eric Johnson, 22, of Medford, lost control of the BMW on the northbound lanes of Commack Road, near Burlington Avenue, police said. The vehicle crossed over the southbound lane, crashed into a tree and flipped.

Police officers arrived to the car ablaze and pulled the driver and three passengers from the car.

They found a fanny pack containing a loaded .40-caliber handgun inside the car, police said. All four were treated for injuries at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip. All were expected to survive.

Detectives charged Johnson with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of a firearm and second-degree criminal contempt. He was also issued multiple traffic violations.

Passengers Magaly Espinal 21, of Central Islip; Tazjan Derritt, 26, of Amityville; and Janell Funderburke, 19, of Coram, were charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm.

Funderburke was also charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, seventh-degree criminal possession of a substance and second-degree criminal contempt.

Johnson, Espinal, and Derritt was expected to appear in Central Islip district court Friday.

Funderburke was admitted to a hospital and will appear in court at a later date.