Cops say man steals fire department vehicle after crash on Long Island
NEW YORK - A Long Island man was arrested Saturday evening after stealing a fire department vehicle following a car accident.
Authorities say that at around 6:30 p.m. in Yaphank, Jaime Alexander Brayton, 33, was driving west on the Long Island Expressway when he crashed his car, damaging several other vehicles.
The Highway Patrol and Suffolk County Police, along with the Yaphank Fire Department responded to the scene, closing off the expressway and assisting other victims, when authorities say Brayton got into a fire department pickup truck and began to drive away.
Highway patrol officers chased the vehicle and, with the assistance of aviation, stopped it and took Brayton into custody, authorities said.
Brayton was taken into custody before being taken to Stony Brook Hospital to treat injuries he sustained in the crash.
Brayton is being charged with grand larceny, assault, and unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle, cops said.
A police officer was also hospitalized and treated for a shoulder injury he sustained while reaching into the vehicle to try to stop Brayton, authorities said.