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

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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