Date-night tragedy: Lawyer for Bryan and Chelsea Zamzam, of E. Northport, says police chase sparked wrong-way crash

The wreckage of two vehicles after what authorities said was a wrong-way crash in West Islip on July 14. Credit: Paul Mazza
A wrong-way crash in West Islip last summer that left a married East Northport couple with traumatic injuries, from spinal fractures to a brain bleed, was sparked by a police chase of another driver, according to a new lawsuit.
The Jan. 8 lawsuit against the state, filed in the New York State Court of Claims, contends police chased alleged wrong-way driver Jimmy Graham, 48, of Central Islip, for roughly 4 miles on July 14, starting near Belmont Lake State Park in West Babylon.
The lawsuit alleges Graham's vehicle "was being pursued by marked and/or unmarked police vehicles owned by the New York State Park Police and/or the New York State Police" in a chase that continued onto the Southern State Parkway.
The pursuit was ongoing, according to the litigation, when Graham then allegedly drove a 2014 Audi sedan the wrong way on Sunrise Highway's south service road near Malts Avenue and at 9:37 p.m. had a head-on collision with a 2016 Jeep occupied by Bryan and Chelsea Zamzam.
Graham, who police said was critically injured in the crash, wasn't arrested until he surrendered on a warrant shortly before his court arraignment earlier this month, according to his attorney. He pleaded not guilty to an indictment accusing him of charges including aggravated vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated, court records show.
The Zamzams' lawsuit blames their injuries on the "carelessness, recklessness, reckless disregard and gross negligence" of the pursuit, which it alleges led to Graham driving west in the eastbound lanes of the service road in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
The Suffolk County Police Department, which investigated the crash, and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office didn't answer questions from Newsday about whether a police chase may have occurred. Suffolk police didn't mention such a possibility in a news release following the crash and the description of the crash on a one-page accident report that was filed with the lawsuit doesn't refer to any potential police involvement.
The New York Attorney General's Office, which represents state agencies in lawsuits, referred calls about the litigation to state park police. Dan Keefe, a spokesman for the department, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. The state police didn't respond to a request for comment.
Brendan Ahern, an Islandia-based attorney representing the Zamzams, said in the lawsuit that law enforcement officials violated state traffic laws as well as agency policies dictating the terms of police pursuits when they failed to call off the alleged chase, despite its potential danger to the public.
Ahern said in an interview this week that on the night of the crash, Graham was allegedly in a vehicle near Belmont Lake State Park that state park police stopped. He said what he believes was a "low level" traffic stop before the alleged chase typically wouldn't lead to a pursuit onto a major thoroughfare lasting several miles.
"We don't know the circumstances of the pursuit," Ahern said. "But we know that pursuit protocols in New York State are restrictive in terms of the types of offenses and circumstances in which you can engage in a pursuit."
The lawsuit contends at least one of the participants involved in the "investigation and/or pursuit" was operating a green-and-white marked state park police sport utility vehicle designated as 8L43.
The plaintiffs are seeking reimbursement for medical expenses, hospital costs, lost wages, personal injuries, psychological trauma and pain and suffering.
On Jan. 15, Graham pleaded not guilty to a 10-count indictment, including felony charges of aggravated vehicular assault, assault and vehicular assault, along with misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Suffolk County State Supreme Court Judge John Collins set his bail at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond.
Christopher Cassar, Graham's Huntington-based defense attorney, said his client remains in custody. Cassar also said in an interview this week he's aware of witness reports that state park police were pursuing Graham's vehicle, but declined to confirm his client was driving one of the vehicles involved in the crash.
"Now we get a chance to review their discovery and investigate this and confirm that Jimmy was, in fact, a driver," Cassar said, adding that his client is recovering from neck and back injuries.
"We’re going to have to reconstruct what happened here ... There are witnesses that saw a green park police vehicle chasing the car that Jimmy was allegedly in," Cassar added.
As the parents of three young children, Bryan Zamzam, 44, and Chelsea Zamzam, 33, rarely had the time or opportunity for a date night.
But on July 14, the couple found a babysitter for their kids, ages 2, 4 and 6, and went out for dinner with friends at a restaurant in Ocean Beach. Neither of the Zamzams drink alcohol, Ahern said.
The attorney said the head-on collision happened when the couple was on the way home.
Bryan Zamzam, who was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, suffered a broken leg, ankle and wrist. His wife, who was in the front passenger seat, sustained a traumatic brain injury that temporarily left her in a coma and with a brain bleed, along with a broken hand and spinal fractures.
The couple, who declined an interview request, are the lead singers in a Long Island band, Hot Date, that performs at weddings, street fairs and private events. They each spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, needing multiple surgeries and procedures, according to Ahern.
He said neither Bryan, who owns a commercial hood system cleaning business, nor Chelsea has been able to return to work since the crash. A GoFundMe page set up to support the injured couple and help offset their medical bills has raised nearly $164,000.
"They both suffered multiple complex fractures in multiple parts of their body," Ahern said. "They both had to undergo surgery that embedded hardware into their bodies. So their injuries are severe, they're permanent and they're life altering."
Graham is due back in court on Feb. 21 in the criminal case.
A wrong-way crash in West Islip last summer that left a married East Northport couple with traumatic injuries, from spinal fractures to a brain bleed, was sparked by a police chase of another driver, according to a new lawsuit.
The Jan. 8 lawsuit against the state, filed in the New York State Court of Claims, contends police chased alleged wrong-way driver Jimmy Graham, 48, of Central Islip, for roughly 4 miles on July 14, starting near Belmont Lake State Park in West Babylon.
The lawsuit alleges Graham's vehicle "was being pursued by marked and/or unmarked police vehicles owned by the New York State Park Police and/or the New York State Police" in a chase that continued onto the Southern State Parkway.
The pursuit was ongoing, according to the litigation, when Graham then allegedly drove a 2014 Audi sedan the wrong way on Sunrise Highway's south service road near Malts Avenue and at 9:37 p.m. had a head-on collision with a 2016 Jeep occupied by Bryan and Chelsea Zamzam.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A lawsuit filed this month contends a wrong-way driver whose vehicle had a head-on collision with an East Northport couple's vehicle was being pursued by police.
- Bryan and Chelsea Zamzam suffered multiple traumatic injuries in the July 14 crash in West Islip that left them hospitalized for nearly two weeks and unable to return to work, according to their attorney.
- On Jan. 15, driver Jimmy Graham pleaded not guilty to a 10-count indictment related to his alleged role in the crash, including charges of aggravated vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.
Graham, who police said was critically injured in the crash, wasn't arrested until he surrendered on a warrant shortly before his court arraignment earlier this month, according to his attorney. He pleaded not guilty to an indictment accusing him of charges including aggravated vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated, court records show.
The Zamzams' lawsuit blames their injuries on the "carelessness, recklessness, reckless disregard and gross negligence" of the pursuit, which it alleges led to Graham driving west in the eastbound lanes of the service road in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
'Low level' traffic stop alleged
The Suffolk County Police Department, which investigated the crash, and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office didn't answer questions from Newsday about whether a police chase may have occurred. Suffolk police didn't mention such a possibility in a news release following the crash and the description of the crash on a one-page accident report that was filed with the lawsuit doesn't refer to any potential police involvement.
The New York Attorney General's Office, which represents state agencies in lawsuits, referred calls about the litigation to state park police. Dan Keefe, a spokesman for the department, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. The state police didn't respond to a request for comment.

Chelsea and Bryan Zamzam. Credit: Zamzam family
Brendan Ahern, an Islandia-based attorney representing the Zamzams, said in the lawsuit that law enforcement officials violated state traffic laws as well as agency policies dictating the terms of police pursuits when they failed to call off the alleged chase, despite its potential danger to the public.
Ahern said in an interview this week that on the night of the crash, Graham was allegedly in a vehicle near Belmont Lake State Park that state park police stopped. He said what he believes was a "low level" traffic stop before the alleged chase typically wouldn't lead to a pursuit onto a major thoroughfare lasting several miles.
"We don't know the circumstances of the pursuit," Ahern said. "But we know that pursuit protocols in New York State are restrictive in terms of the types of offenses and circumstances in which you can engage in a pursuit."
The lawsuit contends at least one of the participants involved in the "investigation and/or pursuit" was operating a green-and-white marked state park police sport utility vehicle designated as 8L43.
The plaintiffs are seeking reimbursement for medical expenses, hospital costs, lost wages, personal injuries, psychological trauma and pain and suffering.
Witness reports
On Jan. 15, Graham pleaded not guilty to a 10-count indictment, including felony charges of aggravated vehicular assault, assault and vehicular assault, along with misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Suffolk County State Supreme Court Judge John Collins set his bail at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond.
Christopher Cassar, Graham's Huntington-based defense attorney, said his client remains in custody. Cassar also said in an interview this week he's aware of witness reports that state park police were pursuing Graham's vehicle, but declined to confirm his client was driving one of the vehicles involved in the crash.
"Now we get a chance to review their discovery and investigate this and confirm that Jimmy was, in fact, a driver," Cassar said, adding that his client is recovering from neck and back injuries.
"We’re going to have to reconstruct what happened here ... There are witnesses that saw a green park police vehicle chasing the car that Jimmy was allegedly in," Cassar added.
A rare date night
As the parents of three young children, Bryan Zamzam, 44, and Chelsea Zamzam, 33, rarely had the time or opportunity for a date night.
But on July 14, the couple found a babysitter for their kids, ages 2, 4 and 6, and went out for dinner with friends at a restaurant in Ocean Beach. Neither of the Zamzams drink alcohol, Ahern said.
The attorney said the head-on collision happened when the couple was on the way home.
Bryan Zamzam, who was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, suffered a broken leg, ankle and wrist. His wife, who was in the front passenger seat, sustained a traumatic brain injury that temporarily left her in a coma and with a brain bleed, along with a broken hand and spinal fractures.
The couple, who declined an interview request, are the lead singers in a Long Island band, Hot Date, that performs at weddings, street fairs and private events. They each spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, needing multiple surgeries and procedures, according to Ahern.
He said neither Bryan, who owns a commercial hood system cleaning business, nor Chelsea has been able to return to work since the crash. A GoFundMe page set up to support the injured couple and help offset their medical bills has raised nearly $164,000.
"They both suffered multiple complex fractures in multiple parts of their body," Ahern said. "They both had to undergo surgery that embedded hardware into their bodies. So their injuries are severe, they're permanent and they're life altering."
Graham is due back in court on Feb. 21 in the criminal case.
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