Cops: Driver rams police cruiser, flips SUV

A Canadian man driving on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway on Friday refused to pull over for a Nassau highway officer, leading police on a pursuit that ended on the Northern State Parkway when he rammed the marked cruiser and flipped, authorities said.

Min Qiao Lin, 39, driving a 2018 Audi Q7 sport utility vehicle, deliberately struck the cruiser twice during the pursuit and flipped about 9:50 a.m. on the parkway's eastbound lanes, near Exit 37 Manetto Hill Road in Plainview, police said.

The driver and his male passenger were taken to a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. The officer was evaluated at the scene but not injured, authorities said.

The crash closed the  Northern State's eastbound lanes  for about five hours as Nassau police investigated, State Police said.

The pursuit began when a highway patrol officer saw Lin driving east on the Long Island Expressway’s left shoulder and tried to pull him over, police said. The officer put on his vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens, but Lin refused to pull over, police said in a news release.

Lin is accused of exiting the LIE onto Route 135, where he “intentionally” struck a police vehicle that was trying to assist in pulling him over, the release stated. Lin then drove onto the Northern State Parkway and allegedly swerved his SUV into the patrol car again. Lin then lost control of his vehicle, striking a barrier and flipping over in the roadway.

Photos from the scene showed an Audi with major front-end damage, and several highway cruisers. 

Lin will be arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Hempstead on charges of second-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree unlawful fleeing, leaving the scene of an incident, reckless driving and multiple traffic violations, police said in a news release.

With Stefanie Dazio