Police ID Injured Suffolk Officer

YAPHANK, NY — Police officials on Long Island on Thursday have released the name of the officer who was struck in a chain reaction crash by an alleged drunken driver and seriously injured, requiring emergency surgery to stop a brain hemorrhage.

Suffolk police said Officer Timothy Thrane, who is assigned to patrol in the 7th Precinct in Shirley, was struck by a drunk driver while he was “handling traffic control” on William Floyd Parkway in Yaphank at about midnight.

His marked police vehicle was parked in the roadway blocking traffic due to an earlier investigation at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Yaphank Woods Boulevard, police said, adding the officer was in the roadway and a 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck traveling southbound on the parkway struck the rear of a GMC Yukon, then the police vehicle.

The "force of the impact" caused the Yukon to strike Thrane, police said.

The 35-year-old Thrane, 35, an officer for three years and a father, is still hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital. An online fundraiser for his family has raised more than $84,000 of a $50,000 goal.

Acting Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron called the collision “disturbing” at a news conference on Wednesday and said the county "narrowly avoided a tragedy."

"We came very close to losing the life of one of our members," he told reporters at police headquarters in Yaphank. "It's happened before, and far too often, and the events of last night really highlight again to me a thing that I know very well, law enforcement is a very dangerous profession."

Cameron said he was disturbed to see Thrane who was in "extreme pain," as well as the trauma it caused his family when he visited his bedside at Stony Brook.

"You can say that what he was doing was routine, but police work is never routine," he said. "There is an element of danger to every single thing that we do."

At the time of the news conference, Cameron declined to release Thrane’s identity, saying that he was sedated and on a ventilator, and he wanted him to have the opportunity to speak with his young children so that they "can be reassured that he is going to be fine."

Cameron said that the department expects he will recover and will be able to return to work, and noted that Thrane has been commended for doing "a phenomenal job," and is "a great asset.”

Thrane had been placing a flare on the roadway when the pickup truck slammed into the Yukon and it spun around, striking him and he ended up underneath the vehicle.

Dr. James Vosswinkel, the department's medical director and chief of trauma surgery at Stony Brook, said the county almost "lost one of its defenders,” and noted that Thrane is now in the Intensive Care Unit where he is being monitored "minute-to-minute.”

"We are all very optimistic of the outcome that he will recover," he added.

Cameron said that the reason why the officer is still alive has to do with not only a collaborative effort to save his life but also luck.

The Ridge Fire Department worked collaboratively with a paramedic from the department's Medical Crisis Action Team at the scene and then he was airlifted by the police medevac to Stony Brook, where the department's trauma surgeon is located.

"Those powerful resources are what I believe saved our officer from potentially dying last night," he said.

Thrane's colleagues and friends in emergency services sent virtual prayer over Facebook.

His union, the Police Benevolent Association, wished him a speedy recovery in a post on Thursday, and shared a link for a fundraiser on Fund the First which was set up by Law Enforcement Officers Weekend.

"Tim has always given his all to help protect others, it’s now our turn to help Tim," the post read.

The South Country Ambulance community, who regularly work with the 7th Precinct, also sent their "thoughts and prayers" to Thrane.

The pickup's driver, William Petersohn, 38, of Mastic, was also transported to Stony Brook in "serious condition," police said, adding that the Yukon's driver was not injured in the crash.

Major Case Unit detectives charged Petersohn with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, police said.

At his arraignment on Thursday, Suffolk prosecutors said his blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit of 0.08%, and court papers show he had a strong alcohol odor on his breath, as well as glassy and bloodshot eyes after the crash, Newsday reported.

He appeared on video from his room at Stony Brook and was joined in his room by his attorney, Jacqueline Flores, who entered a not guilty plea, the outlet reported.

Prosecutors requested the court to suspend Petersohn’s license, force the surrender of his passport, and place him on supervised release, according to the outlet.

Petersohn is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.