Cops: Minivan flees after hitting Suffolk police car

A Suffolk County highway patrol car was struck by a hit-and-run driver early Wednesday on the Long Island Expressway in Holtsville, injuring an officer, police said.

The officer was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, treated for minor injuries and released, police said, after his car was hit in the eastbound high-occupancy vehicle lane, east of Exit 61, shortly after 4 a.m.

The officer had responded to a call for a single-car crash in the HOV lane and was doing paperwork related to the crash in his car when it was hit by a dark-colored minivan that fled the scene, police said.

The patrol car's emergency lights were activated at the time it was hit, police said.

The driver of the car in the initial crash was not injured, police said.

Police closed the HOV lane until about 5:30 a.m. to investigate.