Two nabbed after car chase through Rockville Centre

Two Rockville Centre men are facing a slew of charges after alert police work resulted in their arrest on Muirfield Road early on Aug. 20, after they allegedly stole a black 2008 Audi from Park Place and bailed out of it while it was still running.

According to detectives, the pair, Michael Opperman, 28, and Arshard Panchu, 21, both of Cedar Avenue, were pursued by Rockville Centre Police Officer Stephen Reidy as they sped north in the stolen car on North Long Beach Road. They crashed the car into a stop sign and a mailbox at the corner of Milburn Street and Fonda Road, police said, then turned onto Muirfield Road and jumped out of the car while it was still slowly rolling. The car came to a stop on the lawn of a home at 95 Muirfield Road.

Officers from the Nassau County Police Department’s canine unit were called, and a canine officer found Panchu in the backyard of 80 Muirfield Road, hiding under a deck. Opperman was handcuffed by Rockville Centre officers as he jumped out of the car at 1:10 a.m.

Rockville Centre Police Officer Matthew Vario injured his right arm during the pursuit of Panchu and went to South Nassau Communities Hospital for treatment. Panchu was also taken to a hospital — Nassau University Medical Center — for treatment of a dog bite he sustained during his arrest.

Opperman and Panchu were charged with two felonies, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, as well as unlawful fleeing, criminal trespass, resisting arrest and several vehicle violations, including speeding, leaving the scene of an accident and damaging the mailbox and stop sign. If convicted on the felony charges, they could face a maximum sentence of four to seven years.

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