New penalties proposed to end illegal car racing meetups on Long Island
MILLER PLACE, N.Y. -- The fallout continues in the wake of several illegal car meetups on Long Island last weekend.
Officials say more arrests are coming and new penalties have been proposed for the drivers who take over busy intersections with dangerous stunts.
"They are terrorizing the communities," state Sen. Anthony Palumbo said Wednesday.
Following a night of what officials called "coordinated chaos," there has been a flurry of changes. State and Suffolk County lawmakers are drafting stiffer penalties after drivers took over the intersections in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
"These cars are being used as weapons on the roadway, spinning around recklessly with a disregard for human life," Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said.
In Patchogue, a spectator was hit and suffered a broken pelvis and in Miller Place, an ambulance carrying a patient in cardiac arrest was blocked for 15 minutes, prompting state legislators to draft a new law to make that kind of reckless driving a felony.
If an emergency vehicle is blocked, police would have "the ability to to seize the vehicle and really have a heavy hand so folks won't do this," Palumbo said.
It's a problem CBS News New York has been covering for years
Suffolk police say they were impounding cars at meetups in 2022, and a year later 111 were seized. However, officials now say the illegal meetups need to be classified as a felony across the state.
Laws have already changed on the county level over the last two years, increasing fines. Officials say they clearly need to be even higher.
"State law and local laws need a tune-up to address this problem more vigorously," said Allen Bode, the county's chief assistant district attorney.
"To make sure our laws, our law enforcement across Suffolk County has the tools they need to seize these vehicles from these criminals from these fast and furious wannabees," County Legislator Chad Lennon added.
County officials have created a task force of investigators who cracked the Gilgo Beach murders to now crack down on illegal car meetups.
Suffolk is using technology to its advantage
Officials say even though driver remove license plates, there are other ways to identify them.
"Do we know who they are? Absolutely. Why? Technology is great. We went through our red-light cameras. We were able to get their license numbers," County Executive Ed Romaine said.
"We have already seized one vehicle, apprehended two people. More arrests are planned. They will be caught," County Legislator James Mazzarella added.