East Northport Man Sentenced in Multi-Car Parkway Crash

Gregory M. Schwert, 24, of Acorn Drive, East Northport, was sentenced today to two years in prison on charges that he slammed a car into numerous vehicles in Planview.

Schwert pleaded not guilty Thursday, Feb. 17.

Police said Schwert plowed through bumper-to-bumper traffic the day before causing multiple accidents on the eastbound Northern State Parkway.

Schwert then fled a police officer who tried pulling him over. He was eventually caught and arrested by highway patrol at the exit ramp of South Oyster Bay Road in Syosset.

He was charged with one count Assault 2nd Degree, seven counts of Reckless Endangerment 1st Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, two counts Criminal Mischief, seven counts of possession of a hypodermic Instrument, two counts Leaving the Scene of an Accident With Injury and Driving While Ability Impaired on Drugs.

Police said Schwert was driving a stolen 2002 Nissan Altima Wednesday when the first accident occured around 11 a.m. eastbound on Old Country Road in Hicksville. Police said Schwert then continued onto the Wantagh Parkway northbound and then entered the Northern State Parkway eastbound where he struck five more vehicles.

As a Nassau County Police highway officer approached the vehicle on foot after it crashed into the median, Schwert placed his car in reverse, striking the officer before continuing eastbound. Schwert then struck three additional vehicles before stopping and fleeing on foot. A New York State Trooper was able to arrest the defendant a short distance away near exit 36.

This inident was not Schwert's first brush with the law as an adult.

In 2007, police arrested him after he stabbed a man at

On June 7, 2007 at around 10:40 p.m. Suffolk police responded to a 911 call about a fight involving a knife there.

Officer Joseph D’Alessandro was on foot patrol in the area and found Corey D’Arco, then 18, of Northport suffering from multiple knife wounds.

D’Alessandro administered first aid. The victim knew the suspect and provided a description. A Huntington Town public safety officer saw the suspect flee and obtained his license plate number.  

A short time later, Police Officer Kenneth O’Brien of the Second Precinct Community Oriented Police Enforcement Unit (COPE) stopped the suspect on Ridgewood Street in East Northport using the license plate information. Schwert, then 20, was arrested and charged with Assault 2nd Degree.  

D’Arco was transported to Huntington Hospital where he received treatment for knife wounds to his chest and arm.