A routine traffic stop on the Long Island Expressway turned into harrowing car chase as the suspect fled into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, smashing into five other cars — and totaling his own vehicle in the process — while trying to escape police, law enforcement sources and police said Monday.
Mikhail Davis, 24, was allegedly driving west down the Long Island Expressway on Sunday evening when he was pulled over at around 8 p.m. near the entrance of the tunnel for using the truck-only lane, cops said.
When Bridge and Tunnel Officer David Rivera asked Davis for his license and registration, he allegedly hit the accelerator of his 2015 blue BMW and went barreling into the left hand lane of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, according to the NYPD and law enforcement sources.
Rivera gave chase as Davis weaved in between the right- and left-hand lanes, sending plastic lane-dividers flying into the air.
During the wild escape attempt, Davis allegedly side-swiped five cars — and only came to a stop when the right driver’s side wheel was torn from the car near the middle of the tunnel, the source said.
With the mad chase over, Officer Rivera jumped out of his car and ran toward the battered BMW on foot while ordering the driver to exit the car with his hands in view and lie on the ground, sources said.
When Davis allegedly refused to comply, Officer Rivera pulled his service revolver and repeated the order, at which point the speedster got out of the car and laid on the pavement, according to sources.
As Rivera put cuffs on the daredevil-driver, a crowd of motorists, most of whom were traveling home from the holidays, whom Davis had hit or slammed into the side walls during his audacious getaway effort had formed a mob around the two men, screaming and cursing at him for putting their lives in danger, saying “are you f–king crazy” and “you motherf—ker! I have kids in my car!” law enforcement sources said.
Backup arrived shortly after the arrest, though the responding officers were forced to run through the tunnel because their cars couldn’t get past Davis’ path of destruction, sources added.
Of the nearly 20 people in the five cars that Davis hit, only three were injured, including his girlfriend — who was in the passenger side seat during the whole debacle and suffered two broken bones in her ankle, according to sources.
After the arrest Davis allegedly told Officer Rivera that he sped off because he didn’t want to get arrested for not having a driver’s license, and claimed that the BMW, which had bogus Connecticut plates made of paper, was rented through Instagram, sources said.
The charges against Davis include reckless endangerment with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, fleeing an officer and driving an unregistered vehicle, cops said.
Davis has a record of previous arrests, one in 2017 for reckless endangerment with a motor vehicle and one in 2018 for criminal possession of a weapon, sources said..