Pedestrian Craig Schiffer fatally struck by Suffolk patrol cruiser responding to 911 call, police say

Suffolk County police officers en route to an emergency call struck and killed an East Meadow man crossing the street with his wife Saturday night in downtown Islip, police said.

The police cruiser was responding to a 911 call reporting a large fight in East Islip about 10:30 p.m., heading east on Main Street, when the car hit Craig Schiffer, 54, police said Sunday in a news release.

Schiffer was crossing north to south on Main Street, just west of Willow Avenue, when he was struck, police said. His wife was unharmed. Police said Schiffer had been coming from Treme, a Main Street blues and jazz club, and was not in a crosswalk when he was struck.

A server at Port Royal Pub & Grille said she witnessed the officers performing CPR on Schiffer immediately after he was hit in front of the bar. The woman, who declined to give her name, said the police car's lights were on as the officers tended to the victim.

Officials did not say whether the two officers in the patrol car were responding with lights and sirens.

An ambulance took Schiffer to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was pronounced dead.

A woman who answered a family cellphone Sunday morning declined to comment.

The police cruiser was impounded for a safety check and investigation. Neither of the officers were injured or identified.

Witnesses can call the vehicular crime unit at 631-852-6555 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-8477.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.com,valerie.bauman@newsday.comJohnAsbury,

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.