Charges Pending For Driver Who Fled Police Before Crashing Stolen Minivan Into Pole, Tree: Police

FARMINGVILLE, NY - A 20-year-old man will face charges after he fled police and then crashed a stolen minivan into a pole and tree in Farmingville early Wednesday, Suffolk Police said.

According to police, patrol officers attempted to stop a 1999 Ford minivan on William Floyd Parkway near Victory Avenue in Shirley at 12:21 a.m. after they saw that the vehicle had no lights on and it appeared that the operator may have been driving while intoxicated.

The vehicle fled and the officers pursued until about 12:23 am when the pursuit was terminated, police said.

Officers continued to follow the minivan at a distance along Horseblock Road and as the vehicle reached the intersection of Route 112, Sixth Precinct officers observed that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed, police said.

At 12:31 am, officers discovered that the vehicle had hit a pole and a tree and then overturned at the corner of Horseblock Road and Liber Boulevard in Farmingville.

The driver became pinned inside the vehicle and was extricated by SCPD Emergency Services officers and the Farmingville Fire Department.

It took firefighters nearly 30 minutes to free the driver, sources told Patch.

The driver was then transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police soon discovered that the minivan had been stolen, but the owner had not yet filed a report, police said. The vehicle was impounded as evidence and charges are pending against the driver, who police have not identified.

Video and photos by Bryan Lopez