A police officer handling traffic control was seriously hurt in Yaphank early Wednesday when a pickup truck driver hit an SUV, which then struck the officer, Suffolk police said.
The pickup truck driver, William Petersohn, 38, of Mastic, has been charged with driving while intoxicated, police said.
A marked Suffolk County patrol car was parked in the road blocking traffic due to an earlier investigation at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Yaphank Woods Boulevard around midnight, police said.
The officer who was hurt was in the road when Petersohn, driving a 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck headed south on William Floyd Parkway, rear-ended a GMC Yukon and then hit the patrol car, police said.
“The force of the impact caused the GMC to strike the police officer,” police said.
The GMC Yukon was stopped at the time of the collision, police said in a news release.
Petersohn and the officer, who was not identified, were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the GMC Yukon was not hurt, police said.
Petersohn will be arraigned at a later date, police said.
