Suffolk police say Officer Brendon Gallagher critically injured in high-speed chase on LIE in Brentwood survived stabbing 2 years ago

A Suffolk County police officer gravely injured in a crash on the Long Island Expressway in Brentwood on Sunday was nearly stabbed to death in a confrontation with a Medford man in December 2022, officials said Monday afternoon.

Officer Brendon Gallagher, a three-year-department veteran, refused to take a desk job after he was stabbed on Dec. 28, 2022, said Suffolk County Acting Police Commissioner Robert Waring at a news conference. Instead, Gallagher wanted to return to the streets despite the injury that could have cost him his life, Waring said.

Two years later, Gallagher was battling for his life at Stony Brook University Hospital, in critical condition after a crash.

"Officer Gallagher has a long road ahead of him," Waring said, "but he is one tough kid, one tough young man. He is a dedicated officer who is committed to public safety."

Gallagher lost a lot of blood after the crash and arrived at Stony Brook University Hospital with a torn aorta and distressingly low blood pressure, said Dr. James Vosswinkel, the hospital’s chief of trauma surgery and the Suffolk County Police Department’s chief surgeon. The officer’s abdominal wall, through the skin and muscle, was "completely lacerated."

"That is something I have not seen in 23 years," Vosswinkel said.

Gallagher, 30, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, was a member of the department’s Street Takeover Task Force, created last year to combat illegal street racing. Waring said Gallagher was conducting a traffic stop just after 6 p.m. Sunday near Exit 55 on the westbound portion of the expressway when a 2021 Ford Mustang driven by Cody Fisher, 29, sped by at 95 to 100 mph, "putting every motorist in harm’s way."

Gallagher chased after Fisher, who attempted to blend in with traffic, before pulling behind the Mustang and activating his sirens and lights. Fisher accelerated, and the Mustang fishtailed, striking Gallagher’s vehicle, Waring said.

Fisher, of Brentwood, almost struck another vehicle while changing lanes, and then overcorrected, sideswiping the driver’s side of Gallagher’s SUV and forcing it off the road, the police said. The police vehicle went off the road and hit a tree, and then overturned.

The Mustang also went off the road, hitting a light post, Waring said. Suffolk police said Fisher was arrested by an off-duty Nassau police officer who was passing the scene when the crash occurred. The defendant was taken to South Shore University Hospital after the crash, according to court papers.

The damage to the police vehicle was severe; it took more than 30 minutes for officers and other first responders to extricate Gallagher from the twisted wreckage, officials said. Vosswinkel said Suffolk police paramedics and other emergency workers climbed into the upside-down gnarled vehicle and attempted to stanch the injured officer’s bleeding.

"It is a tremendously hopeless feeling to hear, ‘We can’t get him out and he is as white as snow,’ ” Vosswinkel said.

A second driver was also injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Gallagher was flown via police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Fisher was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree unlawful fleeing, reckless driving, and driving while ability impaired by drugs. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment on Monday afternoon in Central Islip. Suffolk County District Judge Steven Weissbard set bail at $1 million cash and $2 million bond.

Fisher was on probation for a weapons charge stemming from a Queens road rage incident, Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said.

Eric Besso, Fisher’s court-appointed attorney, told reporters that Gallagher’s driving may have played a role in the crash.

"One of the factual things is that the cop was as aggressive as he was," Besso said.

Besso said that Fisher has lived in Suffolk County since 2012, and works full time at a company that makes ceiling fire sprinklers.

Suffolk prosecutors said investigators found marijuana paraphernalia in Fisher's car, and court papers said his eyes were bloodshot and his speech slurred. His breath, the papers said, smelled like marijuana smoke.

Besso said Fisher told him he was not smoking marijuana, and that a blood test will show that.

Prosecutors also said Fisher’s South Carolina-issued driver's license had been suspended. But Besso said Fisher told him the matter had been cleared up.

Gallagher stopped an illegal street race the night before he was injured, Waring said, arresting two men who were driving more than 100 mph on the expressway. He has awarded commendations eight times in his brief career as a Suffolk police officer, Waring said.

Vosswinkel also treated Gallagher’s injuries when the officer was stabbed in Medford in 2022, the doctor said.

Gallagher, Officer Raymond Stock, and a third Sixth Precinct officer responded to a 911 call at the Blue Ridge Condominium Complex on Dec. 28, 2022, authorities said. The officers were responding to reports that a man named Enrique Lopez had been menacing people with a fire extinguisher.

Lopez — who lived in a home operated by a nonprofit for people with disabilities and mental health issues — lunged at the responding officers with a bowie knife as they attempted to retreat for cover. Authorities said Lopez stabbed Gallagher in the chest through his bullet-resistant vest. The knife pierced Gallagher’s shirt and notebook, hitting a rib near his heart. Gallagher was hospitalized for two days.

"It’s pure luck that Brendon is alive," Vosswinkel said a few days after that incident.

Lopez stabbed Stock in the neck and groin, according to officials, and Stock shot Lopez four times, killing the 56-year-old man. Waring said at the time that the shooting was justified, and New York Attorney General Letitia James closed an investigation without filing charges.

Gallagher’s injuries from Sunday’s crash are far more severe than those he suffered in 2022, and Waring said he faces a long recovery. The news conference concluded, but then Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine stopped police officers and members of the media before they drifted away. One more thing, he said.

"Pray for Brendon," Romaine told the crowd.