DA: Upgraded Charges for Northport Men Who Ran Down Cops

SCPD Photos: Chad Morizsan (L) and Nicholas Franzone

Two Northport men have been indicted on upgraded charges stemming from a hit-and-run in Huntington last month that seriously injured a Suffolk County police officer, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Monday.

Chad Morizsan, 34, and Nicholas Franzone, 22, will be arraigned in a Central Islip court on Tuesday morning.

The 28-count indictment contains an upgraded charge against both men of first degree assault, which Spota said is “a crime which carries a determinate incarceration of 25 years in state prison, a sentence we will strongly recommend upon conviction.”

Morizsan was the driver of a 2014 Ford Explorer that struck Nicholas Guerrero and fellow Second Precinct Crime Section officer Heriberto Lugo on Partridge Lane during a traffic stop on the afternoon of Sept. 22, police said.

Guerrero, 36, suffered a ”very serious head injury” and remains hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Morizsan and Franzone also face upgraded robbery charges, for allegedly stealing a Commack woman’s car and her pocketbook while they were trying to evade capture, Spota said.

Morizsan and Franzone were taken into custody at the Central Islip Target store, where they attempted to purchase a television with the woman’s stolen credit card, Spota said.

Related:

Police: Northport Men Charged After Mowing Down Cops, Critically Injuring One