Jordy Yanzaguano, of Westbury, Dennis Kaprov, 21, of Brooklyn, arrested in street racing 'takeover'

Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with what Suffolk police described as an illegal street racing last Sunday that saw a police officer injured and a fiery crash and multiple other collisions as drivers attempted to flee the scene near Sunrise Highway in Islip.

Police will hold a Friday morning news conference with Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney and Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina at the Suffolk Police Academy in Brentwood, where officials will announce the formation of a new Street Takeover Task Force to crack down on illegal racing, speed contests and so-called sideshow events.

Police described the early Sunday incidents as part of a "street takeover" and identified the two men arrested in connection with the incidents as Jordy Yanzaguano, 20, of Westbury, and Dennis Kaprov, 21, of Brooklyn.

Police said Kaprov was the driver of a black Ford Mustang that was stopped for driving recklessly only to have a crowd of onlookers attack the Third Precinct officer who made the stop. That officer, whose identity has not been released, was then dragged by the car as it fled.

The Mustang was then involved in a crash with another vehicle at the intersection of Commack Road and Wallace Street. The driver, now identified by police as Kaprov, fled on foot.

Police said officers responded to the scene along the westbound Sunrise Highway service road, near Commack Road, following a series of 911 calls reporting "vehicles blocking traffic" sometime around 1 a.m. Sunday. The Third Precinct officer injured while being dragged during the stop had previously been involved in a crash at the scene, police said Friday. That officer's patrol unit struck a utility pole while attempting to avoid a pedestrian in the roadway.

Once the officer had exited his patrol unit, he made the stop on the Mustang — only to be attacked by a group of onlookers, who police said punched him, before being dragged by the car.

Police said the officer was taken to a hospital for treatment, then was released.

The arrests were made following an investigation by Third Squad detectives, Third Precinct Crime Section officers, the Suffolk District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Marshal's Task Force, Suffolk Police Criminal Intelligence Bureau officers and analysts from the Crime Analysis Center.

Police said Yanzaguano was identified as the driver of a Chrysler 300M bearing a Hellcat emblem and said he was arrested Wednesday, charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and with participation in an unlawful speed contest and sideshows and races for allegedly performing doughnuts in the middle of an intersection as a group of spectators looked on.

Yanzaguano was issued a desk appearance ticket — and faces arraignment at a later date.

Police said Kaprov was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree reckless endangerment, as well as with leaving the scene of an accident and with participation in an unlawful speed contest and sideshows and races.

Kaprov was held overnight for arraignment Friday in First District Court in Islip.

It was not immediately clear if Kaprov or Yanzaguano were represented by counsel.

On Sunday Islip Fire Department Chief Jared Gunst estimated as many as 100 vehicles had blocked roadways as volunteers responded to a report of small fires in the area — and said the situation slowed firefighters and emergency vehicles trying to get to the fire scene.

"They basically shut all the streets in the area down, including the service roads on both sides of Sunrise Highway," Gunst said, alleging the fires were sparked by the street racers setting off fireworks. As for the crash involving Kaprov and his fleeing Ford Mustang, Gunst said: "There was just cars driving in all different directions when the crash happened."

Last month, a 19-year-old Holbrook woman was injured while watching an illegal "car takeover" event shortly after 1 a.m. in a parking lot at Gateway Plaza on Sunrise Highway in Patchogue, police said at the time. The Patchogue location is 11 miles from where Sunday's incident took place.

A Brooklyn man, Matthew Mitchell, 20, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday on a grand jury indictment for second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and several misdemeanor charges related to the Patchogue crash.

The Suffolk District Attorney’s Office said that incident, which it alleges was captured on video, was one of several illegal street racing events in the county overnight on Oct. 6.

"Real life is not 'The Fast and the Furious,' " Tierney said in a statement Thursday, referring to the motion picture franchise focused on street racing.

Attorney Steven Politi, of Central Islip, who is defending Mitchell, said this week he is awaiting the video evidence prosecutors say they have in the case and believes the incident could be "an accident being prosecuted as a crime."

"As far as I’m concerned this appears to be an unfortunate accident," Politi said. "We wish the young lady, who we have been told suffered fractures of her back, pelvis and legs, a full and speedy recovery."

Gunst said while he’s heard of similar street-racing events across Suffolk of late, the takeover Sunday was unique to Islip.

"The reckless driving throughout the entire town definitely led to a completely unsafe situation and the blocking of emergency vehicles," Gunst said. "They put a lot of people in pretty serious danger and didn't seem to really mind the consequences of that."

With Brianne Ledda and Grant Parpan

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”