Unlicensed man crashes into police car, seriously injures two

Unlicensed man crashes into police car, seriously injures two

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Police charged a man with driving without a license Tuesday night after a crash that sent two officers and two civilians to the hospital.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, 4th Precinct officers John Kurklen and Adam Tuthill had recently stopped a 2013 Hyundai Sonata for a vehicle and traffic infraction on the westbound side of Route 347 in Hauppauge when another vehicle, a 2001 Toyota Corolla, crashed into the back of their police cruiser. The police car then struck the two officers, as well as the two people who had been in the Hyundai.

Kurklen and Tuthill were treated at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown and released, police said, but the pair from the Hyundai, a 25-year-old woman from Levittown and a 37-year-old Farmingdale man, suffered multiple internal injuries and are in serious condition at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Police said during the traffic stop — which happened east of Route 111 around 8:30 p.m. — before being struck by the Toyota, officers recovered drug paraphernalia and heroin from the Hyundai, of which the Levittown resident was the driver.

The Toyota’s driver, 24-year-old Brentwood resident Orvin Antonio Gabriel, was charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and with operating a vehicle while approaching a parked, stopped or standing emergency vehicle.

Attorney information for Gabriel was not immediately available. He was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

No charges have been filed against the Hyundai’s passengers.

Police impounded all three vehicles involved in the crash for safety checks. Vehicular Crime Unit detectives are investigating the case, and ask that anyone who may have witnessed the crash to call them at 631-852-6555.