Suspect in crash that nearly killed Suffolk officer Timothy Thrane pleads guilty

A Mastic man pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and causing a chain-reaction car crash that nearly killed a Suffolk County police officer in November, court records show. 

William Petersohn, 38, pleaded guilty on April 19 to second-degree vehicular assault and assault, both felonies, as well as first-degree operating a motor vehicle with 0.08%  of 1% alcohol, a misdemeanor. 

Petersohn is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24 in Suffolk County criminal court, although Tania Lopez, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Ray Tierney, said the hearing could be postponed because Petersohn is suffering from health problems.

Petersohn is expected to be sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation, Lopez said. 

Petersohn’s attorney, Joseph L. Indusi of Hauppauge, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Suffolk police Officer Timothy Thrane was  directing traffic and laying road flares just after midnight on Nov. 3 at the site of a car accident in Yaphank when a Chevrolet pickup driven by Petersohn crashed into the back of a GMC Yukon parked nearby, police said. The impact from the crash caused the Yukon to fishtail and spin into Thrane.

The force of the impact caused the officer to suffer a fractured skull, officials said. Thrane had an epidural hematoma — an artery ripped on the inside of his skull, filling blood into his brain — that could have been fatal if not for treatment at the scene by Ridge firefighters and aviation paramedics, officials and doctors said at the time.

The force of the impact by the Yukon also broke Thrane's arm and hand, ripped all the ligaments in his neck and tore the ligaments in his knee.

Thrane spent nearly a month in a medically induced coma as a result of the life-threatening brain injury and was released from St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Port Jefferson on Dec. 9.

Doctors said they were optimistic that Thrane, who has not yet returned to work, will make a full recovery. 

Thrane was the second Suffolk police officer who suffered life-threatening injuries in 2021. Officer Christopher Racioppo lost most of his blood after a near-fatal stabbing in Patchogue on April 10. 

Racioppo spent 16 days in Stony Brook University Hospital before he was released. He was promoted to the rank of detective in August. Two Suffolk cops were also injured in two separate incidents by drunken drivers on Feb. 27, police said. Both officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to officials.