Cutchogue Man Leads Police in Second Car Chase & Crash Since May 6

Southold police said officers were involved in a car chase that ended in a crash on Saturday with the same Cutchogue man who led them on a remarkably similar chase and crash early last month.

According to police, units responded to reports of a van stolen from the Greenport 7-Eleven parking lot early Saturday morning, June 4. Police said they located the stolen vehicle, which then led officers on a chase, which ended with the suspect crashing into a police car before being apprehended.

This was remarkably similar to the suspects’ first car chase with police that ended in a crash on May 6.

JUNE 4 POLICE CAR CHASE & CRASH

Following the report of a stolen 2008 Ford E250 cargo van out of the Greenport 7-Eleven lot at 7:22 a.m. on Saturday morning, a Southold police officer located the allegedly stolen van traveling Westbound on Route 25 in Cutchogue and performed a traffic stop. The driver initially stopped the van, then accelerated and fled, initiating a police pursuit.

Police said the vehicle’s operator, 35-year-old Alexander Ellioff of Cutchogue, led officers westbound through Riverhead’s jurisdiction and onto Interstate 495, the Long Island Expressway.

Eventually, police said Ellioff pulled over briefly for officers at around exit 69 on the LIE, then fled again, striking an occupied Southold Town Police vehicle on the shoulder of the road in the process. Ellioff continued a short distance after the crash before he was finally apprehended, police said.

After he was caught, police said they transported Ellioff to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of the injuries he suffered during the accident. He would be processed and arraigned upon his release.

The officer involved in the accident was not injured.

Police listed a series of Ellioff’s offenses, including grand larceny of a motor vehicle in the 4th degree, second degree criminal mischief, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle (3rd degree), and obstructing government administration in the 2nd degree.

MAY 6 POLICE CAR CHASE & CRASH

This is the second car chase Ellioff was involved in recently that ended with a crash, according to previous Southold Police reports.

On the morning of Friday, May 6, Southold police officers responded to reports of a man menacing beachgoers at Nassau Point in Cutchogue. In a strikingly similar turn of events, police said at the time that they located Ellioff who then fled in a white Jeep Liberty, refusing to stop for the officers in pursuit.

That May 6 car chase continued to the town line on Sound Avenue in Mattituck, but police said Ellioff was apprehended after he crashed at the intersection of State Route 25 and Edwards Avenue in Calverton.

According to police reports for this earlier incident, responding units from Riverhead Police Department detained Ellioff until he could be arrested by Southold Police, who then took him to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of his injuries suffered in the crash.

Police at the time said that upon his arrest, Ellioff was found to be in possession of items burglarized from two homes near the Nassau Point beach where he was initially reported to be harassing people.

Ellioff’s offenses on May 6 included burglary, menacing, resisting arrest, and numerous vehicle and traffic law violations, police said.

Southold Police did not immediately respond for comment regarding the status of Ellioff’s charges stemming from the May 6 incident.