BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — A Suffolk County police officer is fighting for his life after being critically injured during a crash on Sunday evening that occurred while he was chasing after a suspect driving under the influence of drugs.
Highway patrol officer Brendon Gallagher was conducting a traffic stop on the westbound Long Island Expressway, near Exit 55, just before 6:10 p.m. when a 2021 Ford Mustang sped past him, police said.
He activated his lights and sirens and tried to pull over the Mustang, but the operator lost control of his vehicle and sideswiped Gallagher’s patrol car. The police vehicle was rammed off the roadway, overturned and crashed into a tree.
The Mustang also went off the roadway and struck a light post, officials said. The driver, 29-year-old Cody Fisher of Brentwood, was arrested by an off-duty Nassau County police officer who was driving by at the time of the incident. He was taken to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore to treat non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
A police helicopter was enlisted to transport Gallagher to Stony Brook University Hospital where he is in critical condition.
Police Commissioner Robert Waring said that removing Gallagher from the demolished car was a delicate process.
“It took our emergency services officers over 30 minutes to extricate him from the vehicle,” Waring said.
Once he arrived at Stony Brook University Hospital, Dr. James Vosswinkle ascertained that Gallagher was bleeding internally. The crash split his abdominal wall and ripped his aorta.
“This is something I’ve not seen in my 23 years of career on someone who’s lived,” Vosswinkle said. “He split his entire abdominal wall open through the skin, through the muscle.”
Gallagher received over 25 units of blood product and is the hospital’s ICU on a ventilator.
“Brendon’s alive by the grace of God and by a miraculous team that was assembled,” Vosswinkle said.
Gallagher is a member of Suffolk County Police’s Street Takeover Task Force, and only two years ago suffered a stab wound at another crime scene while on-duty.
Fisher is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, second-degree assault, unlawful fleeing a police officer and reckless driving.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday at First District Court in Central Islip, and bail for the top charge was set at $1 million cash, according to court records.