Carlos Morocho of Center Moriches rear-ended Suffolk police car, cops say

A Suffolk County police officer responding to a car fire on Sunrise Highway near the William Floyd Parkway in Brookhaven was hurt when he was rear-ended by a van early Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, police said. The driver of the van, Carlos Morocho, 27, of Center Moriches, was arrested on charges including driving while intoxicated, police said. Credit: James Carbone
A Center Moriches man with a history of drunken driving struck a police car on Sunrise Highway in Brookhaven early Saturday, injuring an officer, authorities said.
The officer was at the scene of a car fire in the eastbound lanes when his patrol vehicle was rear-ended shortly before 4 a.m. by a 2003 Ford van, Suffolk County police said.
The van’s driver, Carlos Morocho, 27, of Center Moriches, tried to run away, but he was quickly located and arrested, police said.
The officer, a 9-year veteran, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said.
Morocho was charged with leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, driving while intoxicated, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and other offenses.
He was being held overnight at the Seventh Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Central Islip.
Eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway near the William Floyd Parkway were closed for about five hours during the investigation, police said.

Carlos Morocho, 27, of Center Moriches, was arrested Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, on charges including driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting after he rear-ended a police car with his van, injuring a Seventh Precinct police officer, Suffolk County police said. Credit: SCPD
Morocho has prior convictions related to drunken driving, records show.
In 2009, he pleaded guilty to aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. In 2010 and 2012 he was convicted of drunken driving, and in 2014, he received jail time for operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device.
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