Staten Island man charged in fiery Long Beach crash

Long Beach Police have arrested a Staten Island man they say fled the scene of a fiery accident Sunday after rear-ending a vehicle of an ex-NYPD officer and his young family.

Joseph Cuciti, Jr., 20, who has been arraigned, faces charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, after he hid in a nearby Burger King moments after the crash, according to Long Beach Police Deputy Insp. Bruce Meyer.

Meyer said Tuesday that Cuciti was driving a silver Kia sedan along Park Avenue in Long Beach at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday when he ran into the back of a sport utility vehicle carrying ex-cop, Thomas Gillan, his wife, and their three sons, all of Long Beach.

Cuciti then fled the scene as both cars burned and Gillan, his wife and bystanders fought to remove the children, police said.

In an interview Monday with Newsday, Thomas Gillan, 39, said he and his wife were the first out of their Chevrolet Tahoe. Their son, Jonathan, 10, was asleep in the back, and Thomas Gillan unbuckled him. Good Samaritans nearby helped the other two children, Josh, 22 months, and Thomas, 8, out of the SUV, Gillan said.

When officers arrived, witnesses helped find Cuciti, Meyer said.

"A witness pointed him out," Meyer said. "He ran into a nearby Burger King." Cuciti was taken into the custody at the fast food chain, Meyer said.

Cuciti is currently out on $1,000 cash bail and is due back in court Wednesday, Meyer said.