Cops: Drug-Addled Driver Charged in Multiple Parkway Wrecks

A drug-addled driver in a stolen car went on a roadway rampage Wednesday, plowing into at least six vehicles, including a police patrol car, Nassau County police said Thursday.

Gregory M. Schwert, 24, of Acorn Drive, Northport, is facing felony assault, reckless endangerment and stolen property charges along with various drug and vehicle counts. He was chased down in Plainview by cops at the South Oyster Bay Road exit of the Northern State Parkway after leaving a small fleet of damaged cars in his wake, police said.

Police said Schwert was driving a stolen 2002 Nissan Altima Wednesday when he struck a car on Old Country Road in Hicksville about 11 a.m. Schwert fled on the Watagh Parkway northbound and then entered the Northern State, heading eastbound.

When Schwert encountered slow traffic, he began plowing into the vehicles in his path, striking five more vehicles on his way.

"It wasn't a high-speed chase," police spokesperson Maureen Roach said. "It was bumper-to-bumper and he just keep hitting cars to get them out of his way."

Schwert finally crashed his car into the median and a Nassau County Highway officer approached it on foot. Schwert placed his car in reverse, striking the officer before continuing eastbound on the parkway, police said.

Schwert's car struck three additional vehicles before stopping and the suspect fled on foot, police said. A New York State Trooper, now involved in the pursuit, was able to arrest the defendant a short distance from Exit 36.

Several people suffered minor injuries in the crashes, including the highway officer, who was treated and released from a hospital Wednesday. The parkway was shut down in the vicinity for hours as the investigation proceeded.

In addition to the assault, seven counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of criminal possession of stolen property, Schwert was charged with criminal mischief, seven counts of possession of an hypodermic instrument, leaving the scene of an accident with injury and driving while ability impaired on drugs.

Schwert was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.