County police pursued a stolen East Moriches Fire Department chief’s vehicle — with its lights on and sirens blaring — on a high-speed chase over East End roads this morning, including a race through the Town of Riverhead at about 7:30.
The maroon Chevy Tahoe SUV was reported missing around 1 o’clock this morning, last seen headed westbound on Montauk Highway.
Suffolk Police cruisers, with support by a county police helicopter, headed east on Route 25, leaving Riverhead cops scrambling to position units along possible routes of the pursuit, hoping to deploy “stop sticks” in the roadway to deflate the SUV’s tires.
The stolen vehicle turned south onto Peconic Avenue to the Riverside traffic circle, leaving Riverhead’s jurisdiction and heading east on Route 24.
The chase took cops east to Hampton Bays, then west on Montauk Highway, through the south shore villages of East Quogue, Quogue, Westhampton and then into Eastport, where the stolen SUV crashed on Montauk Highway near North Bay Avenue at about 8 a.m.
Two subjects were taken into custody, according to radio reports. It is not known whether either of the SUV’s occupants were injured in the crash.
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