Correction officer seriously injured after hit and run in Long Island pub's parking lot
CENTEREACH, Suffolk County (WABC) -- A correction officer was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash in Suffolk County.
It happened on Sunday at 10 p.m. at Jack McCarthy's Pub on Middle Country Road in Centereach.
Police said that 48-year-old Suffolk County Correction Officer Gary Harnig was standing in the parking lot when he was struck. He was off-duty at the time.
Harnig works at the county jail in Riverhead.
Police sources tell Eyewitness News that Harnig was awake and conscious on Monday afternoon after being taken to Stony Brook University Hospital.
Video from the scene shows the aftermath of the incident:
Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne spoke exclusively with Damon Mulazzi, of Coram, who said he saw the entire incident unfold.
Mulazzi said he was waiting for an Uber fare when he saw two men leave the pub and walk through the back parking lot.
He said only one car was in the parking lot and was situated in the back corner. He said he heard screeching and saw the car run over one of the men. He heard screaming.
"And then the car hit the engine down and ran over the guy a second time," Mulazzi said.
He said then the driver sped off.
Mulazzi pulled up his car to block Harnig, put on his hazards and called 911.
"I got out, tried to talk to his friend, but his friend was so distraught," Mulazzi said.
Mulazzi said the women he was picking up from the pub were nurses and ran out and performed CPR on Harnig.
Virginia Potts lives nearby and said she saw one of the women doing chest compressions.
"Then all these other people started coming and then the ambulance and the police officers," she said.
Police said they are investigating the possibility that Harnig may have been run over intentionally.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.
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