Man Sentenced To Prison For Crashing Stolen Car, Injuring Officer

WEST BABYLON, NY - A West Babylon man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for crashing a stolen car into a cop car and seriously injured an officer during a snow storm while high on drugs last March, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

Louis Mancini Jr., 31, was sentenced by Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho to prison followed by five years of post-release supervision, the DA said.

He pleaded guilty on Oct. 2 to first degree assault, driving while ability impaired by drugs, and second degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle in the Second Degree, the DA said.

On March 13 Mancini stole a 2013 GMC Yukon that had been left running and unoccupied outside of Frank’s Delicatessen on 1018 Little East Neck Road in West Babylon, the DA said.

He was driving at a high rate of speed northbound on Straight Path in West Babylon when he lost control of the vehicle and crossed into the southbound lane, according to the DA.

Mancini crashed head-on into an occupied marked Suffolk County Police vehicle that was responding to the 911 call placed by an employee of the deli to report the stolen vehicle, the DA said.

The officer was extricated from the vehicle and transported by the North Babylon Fire Department to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, according to the DA.

The officer suffered multiple fractures to his left leg and pelvis that required surgery, the DA said.

A blood test revealed that Mancini had fentanyl and Clonazepam, a sedative, in his system at the time of the crash, the DA said. He was also operating the vehicle with a suspended driver’s license, according to the DA.

“Every one of the defendant’s actions that day was inexcusable, from stealing a car to driving recklessly in a snow storm while on drugs,” Sini said. “He put many lives in danger that day, including the life of a Suffolk County Police officer who was on the road working to keep people safe. Thanks to the hard work of Assistant District Attorney Ray Varuolo, Mancini is being held accountable for his actions and will not be getting behind the wheel of a car for a long time.”

Image via SCDA