Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Jeffrey Edsall, 52, was sentenced to three to six years in prison for stealing a car, driving it while under the influence of alcohol, and causing a four-car collision in North Patchogue that left a 73-year-old woman with serious physical injuries.
“The actions of this defendant are every driver’s worst nightmare,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office recommended this defendant be sentenced to the maximum allowed by law because his brazen actions caused a four-car collision and seriously injured a passenger in one of those vehicles.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on June 15, 2023, at approximately 7:04 p.m., Edsall was driving a stolen blue 2001 Ford Explorer northbound on North Ocean Avenue in North Patchogue. Video surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the stolen vehicle rear-end an SUV which was waiting to make a left turn into a parking lot. The force of the crash caused the SUV to be pushed forward several feet and the stolen vehicle to spin into the oncoming southbound lane where it collided with two additional vehicles, one of which contained a 73-year-old woman. As a result of the crash, the victim suffered a broken nose, a fractured right wrist, a fractured right leg that required surgery, and other physical injuries.
During the crash, Edsall was ejected from the stolen vehicle and found lying unresponsive nearby. The Suffolk County Police Department transported Edsall to Stony Brook University Hospital, where a sample of his blood was taken by hospital staff. That blood was subsequently seized and tested pursuant to a search warrant, which revealed that Edsall’s blood alcohol concentration was .13% at the time the blood was drawn.
On January 30, 2024, Edsall pleaded guilty to the following charges before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro:
- Aggravated Vehicular Assault, a Class C felony;
- Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony;
- Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony; and
- Driving While Intoxicated Per Se, a Class E felony.
On March 4, 2024, Justice Ambro sentenced Edsall to three to six years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. Edsall was represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James McCormack of the Vehicular Crime Bureau and the investigation was conducted by Detective Stephen Masciopinto of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fifth Squad.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.