Two Brothers Seriously Hurt in Crash, Van Driver Was on Drugs: Police

LINDENHURST, NY - A 27-year-old Mastic Beach man was arrested after he was involved in a crash Friday morning that seriously injured two brothers from Lindenhurst, Suffolk Police said.

Police were called to North Indiana Avenue and Daniel Street after a citizen called 911 and noticed a man in a 2010 Ford van suspiciously talking to people near Daniel Street Elementary School, police said.

An officer responded and the van left, making several turns at a legal speed limit, police said.

A very short time later, the officer came across a two-vehicle crash involving the van and a 2001 Ford sedan at the intersection of North Erie Avenue and East John Street at about 9:30 a.m.

The van rolled over multiple times and the driver, Artur Haluda, jumped out of the driver’s side window and fled, police said.

The police set up a perimeter and caught Haluda a short time later, police said. Haluda was arrested and transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip with non-life threatening injuries.

The 24-year-old driver of the Ford sedan and his 21-year-old brother, both of Lindenhurst, were transported by the Lindenhurst Fire Department to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Police did not identify the brothers, but an online fundraiser set up by their sister identified them as Michael and Thomas Higgins.

Haluda is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs.