According to Suffolk County Police, Fifth Precinct officers attempted to stop a 2025 Ford van, reported stolen from a rental company, on the eastbound Sunrise Highway Service Road in Patchogue.
Authorities said the driver refused to pull over and sped off, operating the vehicle in a dangerous manner.During the incident, the van traveled eastbound in the westbound lanes of Express Drive North in Holtsville, where it struck another vehicle in a hit-and-run crash.
No injuries were reported as a result of the collision.
The van was later abandoned on Lidge Drive in Farmingville, and the occupants fled on foot. Officers located the driver, identified as Gerald Matzen, 42, of 271 Cypress Drive in Mastic Beach, at approximately 10:26 a.m. on Dogwood Avenue in Farmingville.Police charged Matzen with Criminal Possession of a Narcotic Drug in the Fourth Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Crash with Property Damage, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree, Unlawful Fleeing a Police Officer, Reckless Driving, and Reckless Endangerment in the First and Second Degrees.
He was also issued multiple traffic summonses and charged on multiple outstanding warrants.
A passenger, Edwin Jefferson, 48, of Mastic Beach, was located on John Drive in Farmingville and charged with multiple outstanding warrants.