An Amityville man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for critically injuring a Nassau County police officer that he caused her to crash during a high-speed chase.
Louie Blanton had pleaded guilty at Nassau County court in January to assault upon a police officer, unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and criminal possession of a weapon.
Prosecutors said that the 24-year-old man fled when the officer tried to pull his vehicle over after a 911 caller reported the vehicle as suspicious on Broadway in North Massapequa on Nov. 21, 2011.
He sped away on the Southern State Parkway eastbound and slammed on his brakes near exit 32 in Farmingdale, forcing the officer to swerve out the way, crash into a guard rail and bounce into traffic, where her patrol car was hit by another vehicle.
The officer suffered a fractured spine, collapsed lung, fractured ribs and fractures to her sternum, collarbone, shoulder blade and nasal bone. She remains unable to work.
Blanton fled the scene but was apprehended on Feb. 29, 2012 after a lengthy investigation by police.
