Cops: Pair arrested after car chase

Two homeless men who police say committed numerous burglaries in Dix Hills over the past three weeks were arrested Sunday after a vehicle pursuit that ended in Smithtown, Suffolk police said.

An officer spotted a blue Chevrolet Blazer that was believed to have been used in the burglaries, according to officials. An officer tried to stop the Blazer around 11:30 a.m. at Commack Road and the Long Island Expressway in Deer Park, police said.

The driver, Michael Ferrara, fled at high speed, police said. They said they pursued Ferrara, who was accompanied by passenger Vincent Pensavalle, into a dead-end street. Ferrara tried to drive through the pursuing patrol cars and rammed four of them before the Blazer became disabled on Larch Lane in Smithtown, police said.

Ferrara, 41, and Pensavalle, 42, were arrested in connection with eight burglaries and two attempted burglaries, police said. They were also charged with two counts of assault, four counts of criminal mischief, resisting arrest and unlawfully fleeing a police officer.

Two officers were injured and taken to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, where they were treated and released. Ferrara was also taken to St. Catherine's, police said. Ferrara and Pensavalle are scheduled to be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Islip.