Man Steals Fire Department Pickup Truck At LIE Crash Scene: Police

HOLTSVILLE, NY — A Long Island man stole a fire department pickup truck, taking police on a chase that ended with his crashing it on the Long Island Expressway on Saturday night, Suffolk police said.

Jaime Alexander Brayton was traveling westbound on the Long Island Expressway in Yaphank, when he crashed "the vehicle he was driving, disabling it, along with multiple other vehicles, at 6:26 p.m.," according to police.

Highway Patrol and 7th Precinct officers, along with Yaphank Fire Department personnel, responded to the scene to clear the crash and aid the victims.

While personnel were closing the expressway to westbound traffic, Brayton entered the driver’s side of a Yaphank fire department pickup truck while Officer Matthew Corchia reached in to try to stop Brayton, who then drove forward, injuring Corchia’s arm, police said.

Brayton then fled westbound, according to police.

Highway Patrol officers pursued, and with the help of the police aviation unit, were able to stop the pickup truck in the HOV lane, just west of Exit 62 in Holtsville, and take Brayton into custody just before 7 p.m., according to police.

Brayton, 33, of New Hampshire, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital by a Holbrook Fire Department ambulance for treatment of minor injuries from the crash, said police, adding that Corchia was treated for a minor injury to his shoulder at the same hospital.

Brayton was charged with second-degree assault, as well as third-degree grand larceny and unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, police said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned pending release from the hospital, according to police.