Police officer seriously injured after drunk driving crash on Long Island

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Officer seriously injured after drunk driving crash on Long Island
A Suffolk County police officer is in a medically induced coma after a drunk driving crash involving a pickup truck in Yaphank.

YAPHANK, New York (WABC) -- A Suffolk County police officer is in a medically induced coma after a drunk driving crash on Long Island.

It happened on William Floyd Parkway in Yaphank at midnight on Wednesday.

Police say the officer was directing traffic when a driver in a GMC Yukon stopped to ask him a question.

A Chevrolet pickup truck, driven by 38-year-old William Petersohn, slammed into the Yukon.

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The Yukon spun around, hit the officer and pinned him underneath it. Then, the pickup hit a marked police car.

The officer had emergency brain surgery and is on a ventilator.

Petersohn, the pickup truck driver, suffered serious injuries. He's charged with DWI.

The Yukon driver wasn't hurt.

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