Gary Donnelly, of Huntington, charged with pulling gun on another driver in Melville road rage incident, police say
Gary Donnelly is led from the Suffolk police Third Precinct in Bay Shore on Friday morning after being charged in a road rage incident. Credit: Joseph Sperber
A Huntington man was arrested on menacing and weapons charges after police said he pulled a handgun on another driver during a road rage incident Thursday afternoon in Melville.
Suffolk County Police said Gary Donnelly, 45, was arrested around 6:30 p.m. at his home; police recovered a loaded firearm during the arrest.
According to a police news release, Donnelly was driving a 2021 Ford 250 Transit van with ladders on the roof around 2 p.m. when he "began maneuvering the vehicle erratically while engaging in road rage" with the driver of a 2018 Dodge Durango on Express Drive South, the service road of the Long Island Expressway, near the exit for Route 110.
Police said the drivers continued onto southbound Route 110 and that the driver of the Durango, identified only as a 26-year-old Freeport man, stopped near Spagnoli Road, exited his vehicle, and began to approach the Donnelly's van.
As he approached, Donnelly drew a handgun and pointed it at him; the man then backed away and Donnelly fled, police said.
Donnelly is charged with second-degree menacing, criminal possession of a firearm and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
Held overnight at the Third Precinct, Donnelly was scheduled for arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip on Friday.
It was not immediately clear if he was represented by counsel.
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact Second Squad detectives at 631-854-8252.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
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