Driver charged in crash that injured officer

The driver who led a Nassau County police officer on a pursuit in November that left that officer seriously injured when her patrol car crashed on the Southern State Parkway was arrested Wednesday, police said.

Louie Blanton, 23, of 224 Broadway in Amityville, was arrested by homicide detectives at 5 p.m. and charged with assault on a police officer, second-degree assault, second-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving and leaving the scene of a serious physical injury incident without reporting it, police said. He faces arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Police said Blanton was arrested after an investigation by homicide detectives, the Crimes Against Property Squad, Seventh Precinct detectives and officers -- as well as following tips from the public.

The injured officer, whose identity was not released, is recovering at home, police said.

Police said only that she is a veteran of nearly 20 years and is married with children. They said she had to be airlifted from the scene of the crash, just west of Exit 32, Route 110, in Farmingdale, and said she was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where she was first treated in intensive care.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident police department spokesman Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said the officer was responding to a call of a suspicious car about 12:20 p.m. on Nov. 21 after a witness saw two individuals replacing Pennsylvania license plates with Florida plates on the gray sedan near South Park Drive and Pine Street in North Massapequa.

When the Seventh Precinct officer arrived, she spotted the car and began to follow it onto the Southern State Parkway, entering in the vicinity of Linden Boulevard near Bethpage State Parkway, heading east.

As the fleeing car and police officer approached just west of the underpass of Route 110, the driver of the car hit the brakes -- a maneuver, police believe, done to lose the officer and make her take evasive action.

Not wanting to strike the vehicle from behind, the officer abruptly cut to the right and hit a guardrail, Smith said. Both the suspects' car and the patrol car were traveling about 60 to 65 mph during the chase, he said.

The impact propelled the patrol car back into traffic, where it was struck by another vehicle headed eastbound.

The patrol car ended up on the left and middle lanes of the Southern State underneath the Route 110 overpass.

The two occupants of the vehicle that hit the patrol car were not injured. The police officer suffered injuries to her head, neck, upper shoulders and chest area, Smith said.

Police had stepped up patrols in the area after reports of up to 14 burglaries in the neighborhood within a month.

"So it's not unusual for our officers to try to get to a scene like that and see what we can find," Smith said at the time.

Smith said the officer turned on the patrol car's lights and siren because the occupants were suspected of switching licenses plates and "there is reasonable suspicion that this car should be pulled over."

The crash caused the eastbound parkway to be shut down at Exit 31, Bethpage State Parkway, for about 4 1/2 hours while police investigated.

Police did not say what role surveillance footage of the vehicle played in the investigation -- or in the arrest of Blanton.

With Gary Dymski and Tania Lopez