Two arrested after street race on William Floyd Parkway, police say

A Suffolk County police officer watching William Floyd Parkway in Shirley saw a 2019 Ford Mustang and a 2023 Dodge Charger take off in what investigators said was an illegal speed contest, then accelerate when the officer tried to stop them. The cars kept going over Smith Point Bridge just before 1 a.m. on May 26, and police later arrested two men.

The episode turned a late-night stretch of roadway into a public-safety problem for eastern Suffolk. William Floyd Parkway is one of the county’s key south-shore corridors, carrying workers, beach traffic and local drivers through Shirley and the Mastic-Manorville area. A high-speed race there can put ordinary motorists at risk long before police are able to intervene, especially when traffic patterns shift around the bridge and nearby park access.

Smith Point Bridge carries William Floyd Parkway over Narrow Bay into Smith Point County Park, and Suffolk County says it is the sole vehicular access to the park and the eastern end of Fire Island National Seashore. The county is already replacing the original bridge, which was built in 1959 and has reached the end of its service life. The new structure is planned as a 1,812-foot fixed-span bridge with a 75-year design life, underscoring how heavily this corridor is used and how tightly traffic is funneled through the area.

The arrests also fit into Suffolk County’s broader enforcement approach toward racing and street takeover behavior. County law requires seizure of vehicles involved in a speed contest, and police say those cases can trigger a civil seizure hearing separate from any criminal proceedings. The Suffolk County Police Street Takeover Task Force has been part of that crackdown as officers respond to illegal racing, stunts and other risky driving that has become a recurring concern across the county.