A Suffolk County police officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries Sunday when his vehicle was struck while trying to control traffic on a flooded road from Sunrise to Islip, the police department said.
The officer, whose identity has not been released, was injured when his patrol car was struck on the passenger side at 11:10 a.m. by an eastbound motorist driving a van on the highway near ‘where it was closed due to bad weather,’ the department wrote in a press release
The officer, who is assigned to the third precinct, was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The driver of the other vehicle, Howard Shapiro, 62, was taken to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore “as a precaution,” the release said.
Traffic had been closed around 9:30 a.m. on the Sunrise Freeway east of Carleton Avenue west of Connetquot State Park due to flooding.
The crash is being investigated by Suffolk County Sheriff’s Major Case Unit detectives, according to the release.
Details of what precipitated the crash, how it happened or where the officer was at the time of the crash were not released, nor were any tickets or citations issued.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
By Grant Parpan and Matthew Chayes
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