Various unruly youths participated in several speed-related reckless driving incidents the night of Sunday, October 6, with one leading to the hospitalization of a teenage girl.
“I got this because these people were foolish enough to put it on social media. It was sent to me, and I went, 'Whoa, what’s going on?’ They came out from Nassau County, went to Gateway Shopping Center in Patchogue, and there they injured a woman who had to go to the hospital,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said in a press conference held at Miller Place Fire Department on Wednesday, October 9.
“This is dangerous,” Romaine adds. “Do we know who they are? Absolutely. Why? Technology is great. We went to our red light cameras. That were at the intersections that they went. And we were able to get their license plates, and the police are following up. And that’s what we need. The first obligation of any government is public safety. If you can’t maintain safety on your roads, you’re not doing your job.”
The very optic of the wee-hour car meet at Gateway Plaza, located on Sunrise Highway in Patchogue, was enough to tip off police that those within this gaggle were likely up to no good.
The police responded to the scene at approximately 1:15 a.m., and upon dispersing, a motorist sped off—fleeing the area at an alarmingly high velocity.
The driver, a 19-year-old from Roosevelt, was located shortly thereafter and charged with “Unlawfully Fleeing a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle 3rd Degree and Reckless Endangerment.”
The female victim, also 19, was nearby watching the car meet when she was struck by a different vehicle doing ‘donuts’ as it attempted to fly the coop at around the same time. The woman transported herself to the hospital and was admitted with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Later on, police were called to William Floyd Parkway in Shirley, and Route 25A in Sound Beach, and Miller Place for vehicles in the roadway, obstructing traffic. A 2023 Dodge was impounded in Shirley after the vehicle stalled, and the driver fled on foot.
As the investigation commenced, local legislators began to weigh in—appealing to Suffolk County Police and the District Attorney’s Office to crack down on a major parking lot issue across the county that is now spilling out into the streets.
“I have spoken with Legislator Jim Mazzarella and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine who are in contact with the Suffolk County Police Department. Fortunately for everyone there are cameras at virtually every single intersection where this occurred and along the routes,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said. “I encourage our Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney to seize all the vehicles if allowed by the law.”
At Wednesday’s press conference, alongside a stacked roster of local leaders, Senator Anthony Palumbo introduced legislation pertinent to the situation that he is proposing–alongside Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio—to “create extra elements to the crime that already exists.”
“Currently, the crime of obstructing emergency services is a class-A misdemeanor. This would create an “aggravated” obstructing emergency medical services, which would aggravate the crime to a felony. And the additional elements would be that they’re obstructing vehicular traffic from entering or passing through intersections, or otherwise engaging in reckless conduct,” he said.
“This is something that is just a common sense fix.”
However, there is still more to be done on the broader issue: why are kids drag racing again?
Something in the Water?
First and foremostly, it’s important to note that though 19-year-olds are still technically teenagers, they are also legally classified as adults—and therefore subject to being pursued to the fullest extent of the law, as elected representatives and the local authorities they petition have routinely assured over the past week.
Secondly, unbridled youths running a muck, engaging in shenanigans bordering on the nefarious is not some new concept. What’s more: it’s inevitable. But there is a stark contrast between conducting risky business, and positively wreaking havoc with blatant disregard for your fellow man.
According to PBS, “drag racing” was born in the dry lake beds in the California deserts during the 1930s. As engines got better and drivers got braver, speeds began topping 100 mph.
Following World War II, kids with cars started to use them not just to transport themselves to and from work, but also to hang out with each other with nowhere in particular in mind; hence, the window for fruitless, “high-risk, fleeting rush-as-reward” thought was opened. This invited something as simple as “Hey, what if we drag raced?” to rock the neighborhood—every neighborhood—off its axis for years to come.
The dangerous yet nevertheless celebrated phenomenon is encapsulated in popular media from the time, like 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause” starring late teen heartthrob James Dean. His legacy? He is the exemplification of “cool.”
His character in the Nicholas Ray classic may have been a "fish out of water," loner reject whose wisdom won out over his need to fit in just in the nick of time during his iconic cliff dive showdown versus the brash, all-balls and no-brain bully, played by an early career Dennis Hopper. Yes, suspension of disbelief was rampant within the expectation that audiences ought to believe Dean’s handsomeness could not get him anywhere he would like to, as it would in the real world.
Meanwhile, in Dean’s reality, he would fatally succumb to injuries sustained in a speed-related car accident at just 24 years old. Over half a century later, Taylor Swift lusts for her love interest in her hit song “Style” by likening him to the 2-time Oscar nominee (“You got that James Dean, daydream, look in your eye…”).
Though we should mourn his untimely death, we should not revere the colossally preventable circumstances in which he perished; similarly, the “Fast and Furious” films are a 21st-century, tentpole juggernaut and something of an anomaly, accruing its global influence without dressing any of its heroes in a cape.
As entertaining as they may be, like with the case of Dean, their exploits should not be replicated verbatim. More often than not, partaking in drag racing is going to cause more harm than good, because where is the good when you put yourself and others you presumably care about in harm’s way? You threaten the physical safety and emotional security of those on hand to witness your categorical tomfoolery in the flesh, and the support system you put in the hot seat every time yours burns. They will surely be expected to answer for your actions when you can’t, if things go as South as they could.
Allegedly marketed word-of-mouth as a contained alternative that can be done in large parking lots after commerce hours, thereby paving the way for disruption without overly disrupting, “doing donuts” is no safe alternative—in fact, it’s just as dumb. Popularized as NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon’s victory ceremony, this is another instance in which amateurs should leave the stunts to the pros.
The big picture: a culture still in-molding’s lack of respect not just for their elders, but for their vehicles, will drive the next generation into the ground if someone does not step in and save them from themselves. Take care of your property, or don’t be surprised when it’s taken away.
Beyond the hyper-impacted areas of this latest incident, proprietors and frequenters of Long Island areas also unwittingly hosting teens forgoing partying to instead try on their “terrorizing creature of the night” persona are shaking their heads; not because kids are doing this, as they knew so for quite awhile already.
They are shaking their heads because it took someone getting hurt for people in power to get in front of the camera and communicate that they give a damn.
One Smithtown native, 28, who moved some time ago, still travels back home a few times a year. He always makes sure to drop by his beloved Bagel Gallery—aka “Hot Bagels” of the “Village of the Branch” shopping center on Rt.-111. And always encounters congregations of crusaders doing donuts and racing one another—sometimes in traditional vehicles, sometimes in motorbikes—as a false sense of invincibility and entitlement protrudes the air.
Upon his latest visit last month, he even called the cops at the sight of kids shooting airsoft guns at each other while operating these vehicles at full speed.
“I’m just amazed at how this started during COVID, and for some reason hasn’t gone away, as everyone has gotten back to normal” he said, noting that not having much to do a few years back has now apparently awakened a certain demographic’s creativity in a negative way.
Back in Shirley, residents are not surprised their area is hitting the news—only hopeful that Palumbo’s proposed legislation will take, and that perpetrators-to-be will run some logic through their skulls before they lose them.
“People fly down Floyd like their Pop's owns the road,” said Gurmukh Rathour, 26, of Shirley, who also notes the serially unaddressed drag racing activities occurring at Wantagh Park where his men’s league baseball team regularly competes. “This isn’t just a Suffolk County issue. It’s Island-wide.”
"This isn't a movie," Senator Palumbo shared. And he is correct in that estimation.
It took someone dying after getting struck by a hockey puck for the protective plexiglass to go up in the NHL.
So why must we wait until someone gets injured—or worse—to get serious on this front?