A 23-year-old Mastic Beach man was indicted on 22 counts after allegedly leading Suffolk County deputies on a 15-mile chase that wrecked five vehicles, flipped a minivan, and ended with his pickup truck wedged into the side of a CVS pharmacy. Vladimir Alonzo pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last Friday, and despite prosecutors' objections, he walked out of court under supervised release with no bail required.
The chase began just after midnight on Saturday, June 27, when a Suffolk County Sheriff's deputy tried to pull Alonzo over near Sunrise Highway's Exit 50 in Sayville, according to Greater Long Island. Alonzo had initially pulled onto the shoulder near Exit 52, but sped off in his Dodge Ram 3500 pickup when the deputy approached, kicking off a pursuit that stretched from Sayville through Yaphank and into Shirley, per the same outlet. Investigators say he drove more than 100 mph through residential neighborhoods, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
A Trail of Wrecked Cars and Downed Poles
Along the route, Alonzo allegedly rammed a patrol vehicle on Montauk Highway, struck a telephone pole and a street sign near Exit 57S, made a U-turn through a grass median, and drove through residential yards along the south service road, the report states. He is also accused of forcing other drivers off the road as deputies pursued him through the South Shore corridor mapped out by Daily Voice, which traced the route from near Exit 50 in Sayville through Yaphank Avenue and Montauk Highway before it ended near William Floyd Parkway and Havenwood Drive East in Shirley.
The chase reached its violent conclusion when Alonzo allegedly ran a red light at Montauk Highway and William Floyd Parkway, slamming into a 2026 Toyota Sienna that spun out and flipped. The two occupants of the minivan were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later discharged from NYU Langone-Suffolk Hospital in Patchogue, Daily Voice reported. Alonzo then allegedly smashed the pickup into the CVS pharmacy off William Floyd Parkway, where the truck became wedged between the building and a support pillar before deputies pulled him from the driver's seat.
DWI, Open Containers, and an Expired License
Police say they found open containers of alcohol inside the truck's cab, and Alonzo was allegedly driving with an expired license at the time of the chase, according to Greater Long Island. The 22-count indictment unsealed after Friday's arraignment charges him with felony counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief, along with misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault, third-degree fleeing a police officer, fourth-degree criminal mischief, leaving the scene of an accident, and three counts of driving while intoxicated or ability-impaired, per Patch. He also faces traffic infractions including illegal U-turns and failure to stop at traffic signals.
If convicted on the top charge of first-degree reckless endangerment, a Class D felony under New York Penal Law § 120.25, Alonzo faces a maximum of two and one-third to seven years in prison, according to Long Island Life & Politics. He is represented by defense attorney Gregory Grizopoulos, a criminal defense attorney based in Mineola, who entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.
No Bail, Despite Five Crashes and a Rammed Cruiser
Following the arraignment at the Suffolk County Supreme Court complex in Riverside, Tierney announced the indictment and did not hide his frustration. Under New York's 2020 bail reform statutes, first-degree reckless endangerment — a Class D non-violent felony — and standard DWI charges are non-qualifying offenses for bail, meaning judges must release defendants like Alonzo on recognizance or non-monetary supervised release regardless of the underlying conduct, Patch reported.
Tierney called the outcome “ridiculous,” pointing out that prosecutors were legally barred from even requesting bail despite allegations that Alonzo drove over 100 mph and caused five crashes across a 15-mile stretch of the South Shore. The district attorney has repeatedly criticized the state's bail reform limitations since taking office, and the case adds to that record. The judge suspended Alonzo's driving privileges and ordered him to return to court on September 25.
Suffolk's Pursuit Problem
The case lands amid a broader push in Suffolk County to reduce dangerous vehicle pursuits altogether. In April, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office began deploying StarChase GPS dart technology on patrol vehicles, allowing deputies to tag fleeing cars with adhesive tracking units instead of chasing them at high speed. The push follows years of scrutiny after National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data showed Suffolk County led all New York counties in fatalities tied to high-speed police pursuit crashes.
It is not an isolated pattern for the county. Hoodline previously reported on a separate Suffolk pursuit that ended in an officer injury and arrests, and on a $9 million lawsuit stemming from another chase that ended with a crash into a CVS. County task forces have also targeted street takeovers and stunt driving in recent months as part of the same crackdown. For now, the open question in Alonzo's case is whether his defense will challenge the initial stop or the pursuit itself, and how closely his supervised release will be monitored before he is due back in court on September 25.
