Guilty Plea In Case Of DWI Crash That Injured Long Island Cop

YAPHANK, NY — A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to charges he was driving under the influence of alcohol when he was behind the wheel of a car that caused a chain reaction crash, nearly killing a police officer.

William Petersohn, 30, of Mastic was charged with driving while intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor, after he was driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck traveling southbound on William Floyd Parkway that struck the rear of a GMC Yukon, then a police vehicle used for traffic control, police said back in November.

Officer Timothy Thrane spent weeks in a medically-induced coma while he recovered after emergency brain surgery.

On April 19, Petersohn pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular assault and assault, both felonies, and first-degree operating a motor vehicle with .08 percent of 1 percent alcohol, a misdemeanor, according to online court documents.

Petersohn is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24, but the date could be adjourned due to a health issue, according to Suffolk District Attorney spokeswoman Tania Lopez.

The sentence will likely be six months jail time and five years of probation, she said.

Petersohn's attorney, Joseph Lawrence Indusi of Hauppauge, was not immediately available for comment.

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