Driver charged with DWI after he hit motorcyclist, then fled, Suffolk police say

A Mastic Beach man was arrested and charged with drunken driving after police said he struck and seriously injured a motorcyclist in a hit-and-run crash on the William Floyd Parkway on Wednesday.

Thomas Dudley, 36, was located by Suffolk County Police Seventh Precinct officers a short time after the crash and arrested. Police said he was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury.

Dudley is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip. It was not clear if he was represented by counsel.

Police said that Dudley, driving a 2012 Toyota sedan, struck a 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle headed north on the William Floyd Parkway in Shirley, then fled. The crash occurred near Lawrence Road at about 5:50 p.m., police said.

Police said the motorcyclist, Robert Engel, 52, of Northport, was transported via Shirley Ambulance to Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

His condition was not immediately known Thursday.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”