A wild police chase – which included a helicopter – raced down a busy Long Island freeway yesterday, ending when five cop cars tried to box in the runaway driver and made him crash, police said.
Ransy Simmons, 25, of Coram, L.I., was charged with DWI and a string of other driving offenses, as well as assault and resisting arrest, after cops chased him for 45 minutes on the Long Island Expressway.
The drama began about 9:15 a.m. in Gordon Heights when a police officer responding to a report of a fight noticed Simmons fleeing the scene in his car.
The Suffolk County cops followed Simmons, who allegedly has a long rap sheet dating back to his teens, and watched as he failed to stop at a stop sign, police said.
The officer pursued and Simmons pulled over to the side of the road, but then suddenly reversed and slammed into the patrol car, before driving off.
Patrol cars from two precincts and a helicopter then chased him as he merged onto the nearby Long Island Expressway and headed east.
The high-speed chase through traffic lasted for 45 minutes, before five cop cars attempted to box him in.
Simmons, police said, lost control of his car shortly afterwards and ended up on the shoulder of the expressway in Yaphank.
His car smashed, Simmons still tried to resist arrest, the police said, but was picked up by the vigilant officer.