Four Arrested After Late-Night Street Takeover in Yaphank, Long Island

Four men from Connecticut were arrested and a modified race car impounded after an illegal street takeover in Yaphank, Long Island, early Sunday morning.

Four Connecticut Men Charged After Illegal Street Race Shuts Down Yaphank Road

Four men were arrested and a modified race car impounded following a late-night street takeover in Yaphank, Long Island, NY Post Metro reports.

The incident unfolded just after 1 a.m. Sunday on Express Drive North, where dozens of spectators gathered to watch modified vehicles race and rev their engines along the rural roadway. Video obtained by The Post shows two cars receiving a signal before launching down the darkened street at high speed.

When Suffolk County police arrived, the crowd dispersed rapidly — but officers managed to stop a single truck towing a trailer carrying a race car. All three vehicles were impounded, according to officials.

Police subsequently arrested four men, all of whom had traveled to Long Island from Meriden, Connecticut. John Maldonado, 33, Lawrence Torres, 30, Efrain Rivera, 35, and Christian Vargas Hernandez, 28, were each charged with unlawful speed contests, sideshows, and races.

Hernandez faced additional charges of reckless driving and unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle, police said.

All four were issued field appearance tickets and are scheduled to be arraigned at a later date.

Street takeovers — in which participants block roads or parking lots to perform stunts and race before crowds — have become a recurring problem for law enforcement across the region in recent years.

Source: NY Post Metro