A High-Speed Chase Ends In Arrest

On Sunday, November 4, the Southampton Village Police Department received a call from the Emergency Room at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

An unruly patient had assaulted a nurse and two security guards, police said witnesses told them, and then fled the building. He was seen on foot racing down Lewis Street and onto Meeting House Lane.

The patient, later identified as Napoleon Owens, 28, of Wainscott, jumped into a stopped 2017 Ford Explorer occupied by a 73-year-old woman and attempted to throw her out of the vehicle. Police said as she was holding onto the door from the outside, Owens took off.

He headed eastbound on Meeting House Lane, while two Southampton Village Police cruisers pursued. Owens proceeded northbound on North Sea Road and then onto County Road 39 westbound onto the Sunrise Highway.

Members of Southampton Town Police and the New York State Police joined Village Police in the chase. The pursuit continued on Sunrise Highway westbound where the Suffolk County Police deployed a Spike Strip. Despite losing a tire, Owens allegedly managed to continue at a high rate of speed before he ran off the road near exit 49 while coming into contact with another vehicle. He finally exited the vehicle and fled on foot while attempting to gain access to the vehicles of other motorists before being taken into custody by the Suffolk County Police and the State Troopers.

A nurse at the hospital and two security guards received medical treatment; the owner of the 2017 Ford Explorer was not physically harmed.

On Monday, November 5, Owens was arraigned on charges of third degree robbery, third degree grand larceny, and second degree assault, all felonies; second degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and unlawfully feeling, third degree, all misdemeanors; two counts of harassment, a violation; and multiple violations of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Other charges by the Southampton Town Police, State Police, and Suffolk County Police were forthcoming.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com