Suffolk County police arrested 15 people and impounded seven vehicles early Saturday after tracking a mobile street takeover crew that staged reckless driving, donuts and burnouts on Sawgrass Drive in Medford. Officers moved in around 12:50 a.m. at Woodside Avenue and Sawgrass Drive, breaking up the gathering and issuing multiple traffic tickets before it could grow into a larger event, police said.
The bust capped a night of maneuvering by the Suffolk County Police Department's Street Takeover Task Force, which had been tailing the group as it hopped between locations across Long Island, according to police. As reported by Daily Voice, officers headed off planned takeovers earlier in the night at Commack Road and Sunrise Highway in Islip and at Route 112 and Main Street in Patchogue before the group finally settled on the Medford side street, where the burnouts began.
The takeover had been planned for Friday night, August 14, according to police. All 15 defendants face charges of participation in an unlawful speed contest and spectating an unlawful speed contest, with the exception of 22-year-old Jeremy Geevarghese of North Bellmore, who police said was charged only with participation in an unlawful speed contest. The group ranges in age from 18 to 23 and hails from towns across the region, including Hicksville, Westbury, North Babylon, Deer Park, Flushing, Roosevelt, East Islip, Lynbrook and New York City.
Who Was Charged and What They Face
Those charged include 18-year-old Marvin Chavez of Hicksville, 20-year-old Zachaly Torresduran of New York City, 19-year-old Jose Mendozagua of Westbury, 21-year-old Marcello Martinez of North Babylon, 21-year-old Frank Spingola of Deer Park, 20-year-old Muzamil Hotaki of Flushing, 20-year-old Borys Lozanosanchez of New York City, 22-year-old Johnathan Edouard of Roosevelt, 18-year-old Djurabe Edmond of Westbury, 23-year-old Joseph Wheeler of East Islip, 18-year-old Alexander Lopes of Hicksville, 18-year-old Declan Tymon of Lynbrook, 18-year-old Amanda Tucker of North Babylon and 19-year-old Ahad Hotaki of Hicksville, alongside Geevarghese. Police impounded vehicles belonging to Martinez, Edouard, Lozanosanchez, Muzamil Hotaki, Lopes, Tymon and Geevarghese, according to the release cited by Daily Voice. All 15 defendants are scheduled to appear at a later date in First District Court in Central Islip.
A Task Force Built for Mobile Crowds
The Medford operation fits a pattern that has defined the task force since its formation in late 2024, when it was created in response to violent incidents that injured officers and bystanders, including a November 2024 Islip street racing episode that left a patrol officer hurt after tires were slashed and a car crash caught fire, as detailed by CBS News. SCPD Chief of Department William Doherty said in February that investigators track planned gatherings by monitoring public social media posts and infiltrating private messaging apps such as WhatsApp, a strategy that appears to have guided officers as they followed the Medford-bound group from Islip to Patchogue.
By February, the task force had broken up 93 illegal street takeovers, issued more than 9,300 summonses, made 70 arrests and impounded 113 vehicles since launching, per News 12 Long Island. Police also offer a $500 Crime Stoppers reward for tips leading to the disruption of a planned takeover or the arrest of its organizers, part of a broader push to get ahead of groups before they can gather in force.
The Law Behind the Spectating Charges
Nearly every defendant in Medford was charged not just with participating in an unlawful speed contest but with spectating one — a charge made possible by local legislation the Suffolk County Legislature unanimously passed in December 2024. That law makes it illegal to knowingly be present as a spectator within 200 feet of an illegal street race or takeover, carrying penalties of up to six months in jail and a $600 fine, as reported by CBS News. It also broadened the legal definition of a takeover “participant” to include organizers, promoters, starters, street-blockers, bettors and anyone who films or uploads footage of the event online, per Newsday.
That expanded definition has not gone unchallenged. Defense attorneys raised constitutional concerns during the 2024 legislative debate, arguing that prosecuting bystanders simply for observing a public event may overreach legal boundaries, Newsday reported — a tension that could resurface as the Medford defendants make their way through First District Court. Separately, state lawmakers introduced Brendon's Law in 2025, named for SCPD Highway Patrol Officer Brendon Gallagher, who was severely injured while trying to stop a speeding vehicle during a takeover response; the bill, still pending in Albany, would establish statewide spectating penalties and vehicle forfeiture rules.
Part of a Busy Summer for the Task Force
The Medford arrests follow a string of large-scale interventions this summer. Hoodline reported that a Central Avenue takeover was foiled in East Farmingdale on July 17-18, when the task force arrested nine people, towed 12 vehicles and issued 46 traffic summonses, according to FOX 5 New York. Days later, more than 200 ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles swarmed Route 347 across Hauppauge and Brentwood on July 25, a takeover that Hoodline covered as it resulted in three arrests and 10 vehicle impoundments, per Newsday. The Medford operation adds another data point to a task force that police describe as an ongoing, countywide effort to stay a step ahead of groups moving fast across town lines.
