Christian Castillo of Ronkonkoma charged with hitting cop, 2 police vehicles with car

A Ronkonkoma man who last month allegedly struck a police officer and two police vehicles with a car in North Lindenhurst was arrested and charged by Suffolk police on Saturday night.

Police had been looking for 20-year-old Christian Castillo for more than a month following the March 9 incident. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison at a news conference last month had announced a $5,000 award for information leading to Castillo’s arrest.

Castillo was arrested in Moriches at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday and charged with second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest.  He was held at his arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip on $1 million bond and $500,000 cash bail, which he did not post on Sunday, online records show.

Records show Castillo is being represented by Suffolk County Legal Aid, which could not be reached for comment on Sunday. He is expected back in court on April 21. 

Last month, Harrison said Castillo was the subject of a police investigation on 50th Street in North Lindenhurst when on March 9 at around 7:30 p.m. an officer in an unmarked vehicle attempted to pull him over.

Castillo, who was driving a rented 2022 Mercedes-Benz sedan, is alleged to have intentionally hit the officer and then struck two police vehicles before fleeing the scene. The Mercedes-Benz was found on Daniel Street in Lindenhurst.

The officer, who was not named, suffered a concussion and broken wrist, Harrison said at the time.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.