Man Arrested After Fiery 1-Car Smithtown Crash: Police

SMITHTOWN, NY — A man was arrested following a one-car crash in Smithtown on Monday night, Suffolk police said.

Christopher Steiner, 21, of Port Jefferson, was driving eastbound on Route 25, near Old Willets Path, when he drove off the road and hit the guardrail before his car struck and severed a utility pole at 11:45 p.m., police said. His car stopped in a ditch off the roadway and then caught fire, police said. Smithtown firefighters extinguished the car, which was fully engulfed in flames, police said.

Steiner was found near the Fourth Precinct in Hauppauge at 8 a.m. Tuesday, police said. He was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.

The Smithtown Fire Department got a call that a car overturned in the woods and was on fire, public information officer Rick Torre told Patch. The department asked PSEG Long Island to turn off the power due to the downed utility pole.

After the firefighters doused the blaze, they searched for the driver inside and under the car, as well as in the woods, but he had already left, Torre said.