Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced this week that Cody Fisher, 29, of Brentwood, admitted to driving under the influence when he seriously injured Officer Brendon Gallagher in a January LIE crash.
Fisher was weaving in and out of lanes and speeding at close to 100mph while impaired by alcohol and marijuana on the night of January 5th. Gallagher was conducting a traffic stop between exit 58 and exit 57 when Fisher flew by.
He attempted to pull him over, but in Fisher’s refusal to relent, he side-struck Gallagher’s vehicle twice, causing the officer’s vehicle to flip over and crash into a tree near Exit 55.
Gallagher spent the next few weeks in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was treated for a torn aorta and abdominal injuries that required intensive surgery.
“Our community wants to see an end to people treating our shared roadways like personal racetracks,” DA Tierney said. “It’s by the grace of God that Officer Gallagher was not killed. It is because of cases like this that my office holds defendants to the highest levels of accountability for impaired or reckless driving.”
At the crime scene, Fisher’s severely damaged vehicle traveled hundreds of feet before coming to a stop. Responding officers observed the offender had glassy, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. They could smell a strong scent of burnt cannabis emanating from his person and vehicle as well.
He was subsequently placed under arrest and refused to submit to a blood test. When a warrant was issued, an analysis concluded he had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .06 at the time of the crash.
Fisher is due back in court on October 21st. He is expected to be sentenced to 10 years in prison.