Upper Brookville man strikes police car during chase, cops say

An Upper Brookville man faces multiple charges including assault on an officer after authorities said he refused to pull over and then crashed into a Nassau County Highway Patrol vehicle during a pursuit that started in Greenvale.

Nassau police said a Third Precinct officer was stopped at a red light on Northern Boulevard at Glen Cove Road shortly before 8:30 p.m. Saturday when a driver alerted him to a man in a 2016 Jeep, also stopped at the light, who was acting “suspiciously and threatening.”

After the light turned green, the officer turned on his emergency lights and siren to get the driver, Muhammaddauwd Cheema, 19, to pull over. Cheema refused to stop, police said, and continued traveling east, evading police by driving on the shoulder of the road and speeding up at times.

Cheema then drove south on Route 107 and got onto the eastbound Long Island Expressway, when a Nassau County Highway Patrol officer arrived to assist, police said. Between exits 42 and 43, Cheema lost control of his Jeep, police said, and swerved before striking the Highway Patrol vehicle, causing damage. Cheema then regained control of his vehicle and continued driving east with the officers in pursuit.

Cheema left the expressway at Exit 51 south and continued driving until he pulled into the driveway of a Dickens Avenue residence in Dix Hills, police said. After refusing several direct orders by the police, a brief struggle ensued and officers took Cheema into custody, police said.

Cheema was charged with assault, unlawful fleeing of a police officer, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and multiple state vehicle and traffic law violations.

At his Sunday arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead, Cheema’s case was continued and his next court date set for Wednesday, according to court records. Cheema remained jailed on $50,000 bond or $50,000 cash bail, the records said.

The Highway Patrol officer was treated at a hospital for neck, back and shoulder injuries.

Cheema was not injured, police said.