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Suffolk County Police have made a second arrest in connection with a car takeover event in Patchogue this month that left a young woman seriously injured.
Matthew Mitchell, 20, of Brooklyn, was nabbed Tuesday morning in Kew Gardens and charged with second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury, second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Police said a 19-year-old Holbrook woman was watching a car takeover at Gateway Plaza on Sunrise Highway on Oct. 6 when she was struck by a white Infiniti sedan about 1:15 a.m. She was treated at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for serious injuries.
The incident is part of a concerning trend of illegal car meet-ups — previously referred to as “drift racing” events by authorities — in Suffolk County. Last week, police arrested Anthony Bartoszewicz, 26, of upstate Mahopac, for reckless driving during a similar event in Shirley on the same weekend.
Another alleged participant in the Patchogue car takeover, Danya Northington, 19, of Roosevelt, was charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer and reckless endangerment, police said.
The unsanctioned events, which often occur in the early morning hours, have drawn the ire of local authorities and residents. Participants typically block off intersections to perform dangerous stunts in front of crowds, with young spectators enthusiastically recording the events on their phones.
Below is a video clip from a car takeover event in Shirley on Oct. 6.
Mitchell is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Wednesday. Cops said the investigation into the car takeovers is ongoing.
