Cops: Two crash-and-steal cases this week in Lawrence

For the second time this week, a motorist in Lawrence had a vehicle stolen only moments after being involved in a crash, Nassau police said Wednesday. It's unclear if the two incidents are connected.

In the most recent crash, a man driving a rented 2019 Nissan Sentra west on Central Avenue at 4:18 a.m. Wednesday was rear-ended by a stolen 2013 Ford Fusion occupied by two men in their 20s, wearing black face masks, police said.

When the driver of the Sentra got out of his vehicle to document the crash, the passenger in the Fusion entered the victim’s car, which was left running, and drove away heading east, authorities said.

The driver of the Fusion got back into his vehicle heading eastbound, but crashed into a fence at West Broadway and Barr Avenue before fleeing the scene on foot, police said.   

The theft is similar to another crash in Lawrence that occurred at 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

In that incident, the 54-year-old victim, driving a Honda Civic, was involved in a collision with a light green sedan with three men inside near the intersection of Rockaway Turnpike and Rugby Road, police said.

The three men got out of the sedan after the crash and had a verbal altercation with the Civic driver that eventually got physical, according to police.

The victim was taken out of the Civic and two of the men entered his vehicle and drove off, authorities said. The third man went back into the sedan and fled, police said.

Police said both vehicles were last seen driving northbound on Rockaway Turnpike. There were no injuries reported.

Fourth Squad detectives are independently investigating both cases but it's too early to determine if they were committed by the same perpetrators, a police spokesman said.

Detectives are asking that anyone with information on either incident, or who has had a similar experience, to call the Fourth Squad at 516-573-6453. All callers will remain anonymous.