Suffolk County honors fallen Sgt. Timothy Henck on 31st anniversary

Suffolk County Police and the Suffolk PBA marked the 31st anniversary of Sgt. Timothy Henck’s line-of-duty death, returning to a case that began with a burglary call in Bohemia and ended in a fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway. Henck died on Aug. 6, 1995 from injuries he sustained in the collision a week earlier.

The pursuit began around 12:45 a.m. on July 31, 1995, when police observed a suspect fleeing a burglary at a Bohemia store. According to Suffolk County Police Department posts, Henck was supervising the chase as it headed westbound on the Long Island Expressway and tried to stop the van. The suspect then used his vehicle to ram Henck’s police car.

A National Police Association release dated Nov. 21, 2024 identified the suspect as Arthur Adinolfi and said he was already on probation for a previous robbery spree. The release said Adinolfi had broken into three different stores on the same night, underscoring why the case was still being invoked nearly three decades later. The group’s appeal to the New York Parole Board kept the crash in the public record well beyond the original prosecution.

Henck’s death has remained part of Suffolk County’s institutional memory. The Suffolk County Police Department and the Suffolk PBA have continued annual remembrance posts, and the Officer Down Memorial Page lists Timothy J. Henck as a fallen officer. Suffolk’s Highway Patrol Bureau now says it has total responsibility for patrolling and providing comprehensive police service for the Long Island Expressway, the same roadway where Henck was killed while trying to bring a pursuit under control.

That connection helps explain why his name still appears in police memorials and social posts across the county. Henck’s death is remembered not only as a loss for Suffolk law enforcement, but also as part of the continuing debate over pursuit risk, officer safety and the price of a split-second decision on one of Long Island’s busiest highways.