Dozens of people turn Sunrise Highway Service Road into dangerous stunt-driving spectacle
Police say it's a growing problem they are trying to get under control
ISLIP, Long Island (WABC) -- Chaos erupted over the weekend after dozens of people turned a highway service road on Long Island into a dangerous stunt-driving spectacle Sunday morning.
"Nobody was controlling the kids. They were just running around having fun," said neighbor Tavion Baker.
Video shows a driver, in an illegal car, drift just feet away from plowing into a crowd in Islip.
"I was in there, in the crowd," Baker said.
The 23-year-old, who lives nearby, says he saw the smoke and heard the commotion.
"They were going and going and there were hundreds of people, surrounding it, following it all the way around," he said.
Suffolk County police responded around 1 a.m. Sunday, to the group blocking Sunrise Highway Service Road near Commack Road.
Investigators say there were six crashes, mostly by drivers fleeing from police. Two of those crashes were by Suffolk County police.
Baker says he saw one of those officers injured while in the crowd.
"I know he got to a car, put his arm in it trying to stop them because they immediately started driving and then his arm got out and he stood up, tried to walk back to his car to report it, kids followed, surrounded him with their phones and then that's when I saw his head go down like he got hit," Baker said.
Fire crews also had trouble responding to the scene.
"They were unable to get to the fire house because the road was blocked off by the participants," said Second Assistant Chief Joseph Ferrari of the Islip Fiee Department. "They completely closed off Sunrise Highway and had no way of getting to the fire house to respond, so we actually had to respond with a lighter crew than what we would normally have to have because our guys weren't able to get there."
Ferrari said he responds to about 1,200 calls a year, but said this type of situation is one he's not normally prepared for.
Most drivers who crashed their cars ran away. Police gave one driver multiple traffic summonses.
One cop car had three tires slashed. Both injured officers were treated and released from a nearby hospital.
Hazmat crews also had to come to handle this area because fire crews say that anything more than a two-gallon spill requires them to show up.
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