Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Cody Fisher was sentenced to 10 years in state prison on Tuesday, October 22, 2025, for a near-fatal crash in January 2025 that left Suffolk County Police Officer Brendon Gallagher with severe and lingering injuries, according to News 12 Long Island. The sentencing was held in Riverhead, and Officer Gallagher attended in person — the first time he said he had come face to face with Fisher since the crash occurred.
According to News 12 Long Island, authorities and prosecutors stated that Fisher revved his engine when he spotted Officer Gallagher, a deliberate move intended to antagonize the officer. Fisher was not only driving at excessive speed at the time but was also driving while impaired. When Fisher’s vehicle slammed into Officer Gallagher’s patrol car, the force of the impact caused the officer’s car to lose control, flip onto its side, and crash into a tree. The collision left Gallagher with injuries described as severe and lingering — wounds whose effects have continued to affect the officer’s daily life and ability to return to work months after the incident.
At the sentencing hearing, Fisher addressed Officer Gallagher directly, offering an apology for his “actions that day” and expressing regret, saying he wished he could take it back. Officer Gallagher, however, was measured but pointed in his remarks to the court. “All because Mr. Fisher did not want to receive a ticket or possibly get arrested, he altered my life forever,” Gallagher told the court, as reported by News 12 Long Island. The statement underscores what prosecutors described as the reckless and deliberate nature of Fisher’s conduct — a split-second decision to flee or antagonize that had catastrophic and lasting consequences for a law enforcement officer doing his job.
Despite the severity of his injuries and the long road to recovery, Officer Gallagher told the court he feels satisfied that the legal process has concluded and that he plans to return to work when he is able. Remarkably, even after enduring a second major on-the-job injury — Gallagher was stabbed in 2022 — he expressed no bitterness about his career, stating that his position with the Suffolk County Police Department is “the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Those remarks drew attention both inside and outside the courtroom as a testament to the officer’s dedication to public service.
The crash took place in January 2025 in Suffolk County. While the precise road location was not specified in court reporting, the case was prosecuted through Suffolk County’s court system, with sentencing held at the Riverhead courthouse. The incident has been classified among the most serious officer-involved crashes in recent memory in the county, given that it was both intentional in its provocation and resulted in a near-fatal outcome.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred somewhere in Suffolk County in January 2025, with legal proceedings concluding at the Suffolk County courthouse in Riverhead. Suffolk County encompasses a broad and heavily trafficked road network across eastern Long Island, and our local incident database has recorded 319 accidents in Suffolk County alone. The county’s roads — ranging from major arteries like the Long Island Expressway to local surface streets — are the scene of frequent enforcement activity, making officer safety during traffic stops and pursuits a persistent concern.
Riverhead, where sentencing took place, sits at the fork of the North and South Forks of Long Island and serves as Suffolk County’s seat of government. For more on traffic conditions and incidents across Suffolk County, Long Island Traffic maintains ongoing coverage.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Fisher pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the January 2025 crash, according to News 12 Long Island. The charges encompassed both the speeding and driving-while-impaired components of the incident. On October 22, 2025, a Suffolk County judge handed down a sentence of 10 years in state prison. The guilty plea resolved the case without a trial, and the sentencing in Riverhead marked the formal conclusion of legal proceedings against Fisher.
The case drew particular attention from prosecutors and law enforcement because of its intentional dimension — Fisher did not simply flee; he is alleged to have revved his engine to provoke the officer before the crash, which prosecutors cited as evidence of deliberate recklessness rather than mere negligence. Driving while impaired combined with high speed and an act of provocation toward a uniformed officer elevated the severity of the charges Fisher ultimately admitted to.
Broader Impact
Under New York State law, impaired driving that causes serious physical injury to a police officer can trigger felony-level assault and vehicular assault charges on top of standard DWI offenses, carrying significantly enhanced sentencing exposure. Fisher’s 10-year sentence reflects the compounding of those charges alongside the deliberate nature of the conduct — a stark illustration of how a decision to evade a traffic stop can escalate within seconds into a decade-long prison term. Drivers on Long Island with prior or pending DWI matters should be aware that striking a law enforcement officer dramatically amplifies criminal exposure under state law. Suffolk County has also seen a pattern of serious impairment-related crashes in recent months, including a motorcyclist seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash and eight people arrested at a sobriety checkpoint within the past year.