Van driver charged after Lindenhurst crash, say police

First squad detectives said they have arrested a Mastic man and charged him with driving while on drugs after the van he was driving collided with a car in Lindenhurst Friday morning, leaving two occupants of the other vehicle hurt as he fled the scene.

Artur Haluda, 27, is scheduled to be arraigned on a charge of driving while ability impaired after he is released from Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he is recovering from injuries connected to the 9:30 a.m. crash on East John Street and North Erie Avenue, police said.

It was unclear Friday night whether he had an attorney.

Police said they were called to North Indiana Avenue and Daniel Street after a witness noticed a suspicious man in a 2010 Ford van talking to people near Daniel Street Elementary School.

The driver left that scene, but the responding officer soon came upon a crash involving that van and a 2001 Ford sedan at East John Street and North Erie Avenue. Police said the van had rolled over several times and that the driver of the vehicle, identified as Haluda, exited through the driver’s side window and ran away.

The 24-year-old driver of the Ford sedan and his 21-year-old brother, both of Lindenhurst, were transported to a hospital by the Lindenhurst Fire Department with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Haluda was apprehended later by police.

With Laura Blasey