Shooting Leads To LI Crash; Driver Found With Loaded Gun: PD

EAST PATCHOGUE, NY — A shooting led to a car crash in a Long Island suburb on Saturday night, Suffolk police said, and it caused quite a stir in the normally sleepy neighborhood.

Police on Sunday said that at about 6 p.m. Kariem Harrell, 18, of Medford was found with a loaded handgun after the 2008 Infiniti G35 he was driving crashed into a car wash and flipped over at Robo Automatic Car Wash on Montauk Highway in East Patchogue.

In a statement to the media on Saturday, police initially reported that it was a shooting that led to a crash at the location and that the three people in the car told police “they were being shot at by someone in another vehicle.”

Harrell and his two passengers were not shot, but were transported to a local hospital for treatment of “minor injuries” related to the crash, police said.

North Patchogue resident Alicia Verity said she was at a family barbecue nearby when she heard what she believes were gunshots coming from the direction of Montauk Highway.

“We heard and had seen a lot of emergency vehicles going in that direction,” she said, adding, “And we thought there might have been a car accident, and we just assumed the popping was a car backfiring in the McDonald's, okay. But when the vehicles didn't stop coming, we walked over to investigate.”

When Verity and her family arrived, police had blocked off the corner of Rte. 101 and Montauk highway, she said.

Police did not say in what area Harrell was traveling from.

Verity said she saw the car was on “its side wheel facing inwards” and “a whole lot of emergency personnel there.”

“They had propped up the awning of the carwash to keep it up,” she said, noting it helped them get the vehicle excavated.”

She saw a young man with a bandage on his lower arm, and he was standing around with the emergency personnel, then a woman arrived at the scene and was “screaming,” she said.

The scene drew about two dozen bystanders who were also concerned about what happened, according to Verity.

After investigating the crash, 5th Squad detectives learned Harrell had a loaded handgun and he was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony. He was held overnight at the 5th Precinct in Patchogue, Newsday reported that he was held on $150,000 bail or $300,000 bond during his arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Sunday.

He is being represented by an attorney from the Legal Aid Society, the outlet reported. Legal Society attorneys do not comment on cases.

When pressed for more details about the crash or subsequent gun charge, police did not release any further information.

Verity said she is a little concerned about the shooting because they normally do not happen in the neighborhood, but she was relieved no one was seriously injured in the crash.

“One thing I have noticed is that nobody is talking about the second vehicle,” Verity said, noting that “everybody is talking about the car that landed in the car wash” because they are the victims who were allegedly shot at. “But what happened to the shooters?”

When asked if she will now curtail her activities in the neighborhood, Verity said she may not go out as often now, but it is likely not to affect her because she works in the opposite direction of where the crash happened, though it is still a concern.

“It’s definitely a little disconcerting,” she said.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash, to contact the 5th Squad at 631-854-8552, or Crime Stoppers, a confidential police hotline, at 800-220-TIPS.