Shirley man charged after April crash, police say he was speeding 100 mph

A Shirley man is facing drug-impaired driving and reckless-endangerment charges after investigators determined he was traveling more than 100 mph before an April rollover on Sunrise Highway in Bayport. Mario Auer, 25, was arrested Monday, June 29, at the Fifth Precinct and was scheduled to be arraigned that day in First District Court. The crash happened just west of Nicolls Road at about 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28, when Auer lost control of a 2022 BMW, struck the center median and overturned.

Both Auer and his passenger, Caitlyn Rose Lovelock, 28, of Mastic Beach, were ejected from the vehicle. Lovelock was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in Patchogue with minor injuries, while Auer was seriously injured and later hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital. Police also impounded the BMW for a safety check as detectives continued the case after the crash scene was cleared.

Auer was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, reckless endangerment in the second degree, reckless driving and speeding. Under New York law, reckless endangerment in the second degree applies when a person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person, and it is a class A misdemeanor. The substance allegedly impairing Auer was not identified.

In February 2025, Suffolk police cited two teenagers for racing at 120 mph on Sunrise Highway in Bayport, and on May 26, 2026, police arrested two men for an illegal speed contest on William Floyd Parkway in Shirley after a patrol officer saw them racing southbound near the Smith Point Bridge.