Officials: Speeder sparks crash in Yaphank

A motorist was traveling about 120 miles per hour on the Long Island Expressway in Yaphank Tuesday night when her car struck another vehicle and both crashed, said Suffolk County Sheriffs officials, but "incredibly" no one was seriously injured.

Casandra Demopoulos, 23, of Deer Park, was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in East Patchogue for treatment of minor injuries, said sheriffs deputies, who arrested her there on charges of reckless driving and unlawfully fleeing police. Joseph Avolese, 60, of Melville, the driver of the other vehicle, was also taken to that hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Sheriff's Chief of Staff Michael Sharkey said a deputy sheriff patrolling the LIE about 8:30 p.m. recorded a gray Lincoln sedan traveling westbound near Exit 68 at about 120 miles per hour. "She didn't respond to officers' lights," Sharkey said. "It was literally 10 or 15 seconds later, she struck the other vehicle."

Avolese's vehicle, an SUV, went off the road toward the right service road, Sharkey said, and Demopoulos' car became entangled in the retention wire system in the roadway median.

"She was incredibly lucky," Sharkey said. "Traveling that rate of speed it's pure luck she didn't kill herself or someone else."

Sheriffs deputies were continuing to investigate to determine if additional charges would be brought against Demopoulos, Sharkey said. Tentatively, she was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in First District Court, Central Islip.