Brooklyn driver indicted for Long Island ‘doughnuts’ stunt that left woman, 19, badly injured: prosecutors

A Brooklyn speedster doing doughnuts with his car slammed into a young woman and left her in a Long Island parking lot, her bones broken, as he sped off, prosecutors said.
Matthew Mitchell, 20, was indicted on felony charges Thursday for the crash, which left the 19-year-old victim with a broken femur and pelvis.
Horrific video posted on Instagram shows the chaotic scene: One car launches a spread of fireworks into the air and, a few seconds later, the victim is violently slammed by the rear side of a white sedan, the impact spinning and twisting her before she hits the ground. A man rushes over and tries to help her get up, but she is too badly hurt to move.
Mitchell, whose license had been revoked after a half-dozen suspensions, joined a group of reckless drivers for an overnight meetup at Gateway Plaza in Patchogue on Oct. 6, Suffolk County prosecutors allege.
There, the drivers performed amateur stunts while others watched and recorded, posting videos online, prosecutors said. Several other meetups were happening that same night across Long Island prosecutors said.

“Real life is not ‘The Fast and the Furious,’” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Thursday. “Earlier this month, a group of wannabe race-car drivers from outside of Suffolk County thoughtlessly took over a number of our roadways, endangering lives, harassing our citizens, and even preventing an ambulance from passing.”
Mitchell’s stunt went wrong, and at about 1:15 a.m., he hit the woman with the side of his Infiniti, prosecutors said.
Mitchell sped off before cops arrived, and one of the victim’s friends took her to a nearby hospital, according to prosecutors.
Suffolk County cops used social media posts to find witnesses and Mitchell, arresting the latter in Brooklyn on Oct. 15.
Mitchell’s indictment Thursday in Suffolk County Supreme Court carried several charges, including felony assault and leaving the scene. Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski ordered him held on $250,000 cash bail or $2.5 million bond. Mitchell, who pleaded not guilty, could face up to seven years behind bars if convicted of the top count against him.
His lawyer, Steve Politi, called the bail amount “completely outrageous,” particularly for a charge where his client isn’t accused of intending to hurt anyone.
“There’s nothing that indicated my client will not return to court on any date given. In my opinion, at least preliminarily, it’s essentially the judge has sentenced my client prior to anything occurring,” the attorney said, adding that he’s had clients who have possessed weapons, been involved in shootings and run drug rings, yet haven’t been held on bails that high.
“Is my client being punished because he’s alleged to have committed a crime in a county where he doesn’t live?” Politi asked. “Is that the message that Suffolk County is sending: ‘Don’t come into our county, or else you’re going to be punished more severely than a county resident?’”
Politi said Mitchell denies the charges. The attorney added that he has not yet seen any of the witness information or the video cited by the D.A.
“We’ll find out what, if any, evidence they have to support their claims,” he said.