Man acting out at Walt Whitman Shops charged after punching officer, cops say
Scene where a man fleeing police in a Ford Mustang from the Walt Whitman Shops, police said, crashed into a vehicle on Pinelawn Road and Route 110 in Melville. Credit: James Carbone
An unidentified man who was “acting irrationally” inside the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station Sunday afternoon was arrested after punching a police officer and striking two vehicles as he fled the mall, Suffolk Police said.
Mall security called police at 2:15 p.m. to report the suspect’s behavior, police said. The man, who police did not identify, left the mall in a Ford Mustang and struck an unoccupied police vehicle in the parking lot, police said. He then drove south on Walt Whitman Road and crashed into another vehicle on Pinelawn Road and Route 110 in Melville police said.
The man punched a police officer as he was being arrested, police said.
The man has been charged with third-degree criminal mischief; others charges are pending, police said.
When asked why the suspect’s name was being withheld, Suffolk Police said in a statement: “He is being evaluated at the hospital. His name is not being released at this time.”
Both the officer and the suspect were transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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