Tags Posts tagged with "Accident"

Accident

File photo

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of a cemetery employee who was killed while working in a grave in Mount Sinai Thursday morning.

Rodwin Allicock was working at the bottom of a grave, which was more than 7 feet deep, at Washington Memorial Park, located at 855 Canal Road, when the grave collapsed at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 25.

His co-workers attempted to dig Allicock out, but were unsuccessful. Allicock, 42, of Coram, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Center.

Officers from the Suffolk County Police Emergency Service Section as well as Suffolk County Fire Rescue coordinators, representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, and members of the Middle Island Fire Department, Hagerman Fire Department, Selden Fire Department and Setauket Fire Department responded to the scene. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was notified and is investigating.

File photo

Suffolk County Police 2nd Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a man in Cold Spring Harbor Thursday morning.

Jason Mocte-Zuma was operating a 2013 Honda Civic sedan northbound on Harbor Road when his vehicle struck a utility pole and overturned at approximately 11 a.m. Mocte-Zuma, 21, of Huntington Station, was transported by Cold Spring Harbor Rescue to Huntington Hospital where he was pronounced dead. There were no passengers in the vehicle.

The vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact the 2nd Squad at 631-854-8252.

by -
0 2100
The Town of Smithtown's Whisper the Bull statue as decorated for the 2017 holiday season shows the Happy Hanukkah sign that was destroyed. Photo from Corey Geske

By David Luces

Smithtown’s iconic Whisper the Bull, a 5-foot-tall statue located at the intersection of Route 25 and Route 25A in Smithtown, narrowly avoided damage in a single-car accident Dec. 24.

On Christmas Eve, a driver veered off road near the intersection into the green space, colliding into the base wall. The unidentified driver was transported to the hospital with critical injuries, according to town officials. 

The retaining wall around Whisper the Bull statue was damaged, lower left, in a Dec. 24 car accident. Photo from Corey Geske

The bronze statue avoided any major damage and the base wall and the area around the monument sustained minor damage, according to Smithtown spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo.

“Thankfully there was no damage to the statue or its base,” Garguilo said. “The concrete around the landscape wall, a Christmas sign as well as a wooden menorah were the only things damaged.”

The iconic statue was recently ruled eligible for landmark status on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places run by New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The monument commemorates the legend of the town’s origins that claims founder Richard Smythe rode a bull to establish the town’s boundaries.

Smithtown resident Corey Geske appealed to Smithtown town officials in December to sign off on a formal application for the registry as the official owners of the monument.

Geske said she was relieved to hear the statue and the surrounding area avoided serious damage, though suggested it would good to keep an eye on it and to get experts to look at it.

“The base [of the statue] seems to have been saved,” Geske said. “The brick landscape wall surrounding the statue looks to have kept it from any damage.”

There were already plans in place to repair the base of the statue prior to the accident, according to Garguilo. These repairs included fixing a visible crack along “Smithtown” in the inscription and can be seen running from front to back of the platform as well as additional landscaping.

This is part of the legacy of the community and the town. It would be a shame if it was lost for future generations.”

— Corey Geske

Garguilo said after the incident the town will try to speed up the planned renovations to the statue’s base.

Since 2017, Geske has been working on a three-part plan for the revitalization of downtown Smithtown, which includes preservation of the statue as part of a proposed historic corridor.

One of the criteria the state park’s department will consider when evaluating the monument for placement on the state Register of Historic Places includes its “artistic value” and current condition, according to the state’s website. Repairing the crack in the statue’s base will not have any impact on Whisper’s eligibility, according to Garguilo, but any damage to the statue itself could have negatively affected its ability to qualify for landmark status.

“This is part of the legacy of the community and the town,” Geske said. “It would be a shame if it was lost for future generations.”

File photo by Victoria Espinoza

Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash in which a Huntington Station bicyclist was struck by a Suffolk County Police vehicle.

Two Suffolk County Police officers  in a marked police unit traveling northbound on New York Avenue, north of May Street, struck a man riding a bicycle across New York  Avenue from east to west at approximately 5:10 p.m. The officers were responding to a call and had their emergency lights operating, according to police.

The bicyclist, Miguel Angel Gaitan, 64, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital via Suffolk County Police helicopter with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The two officers were transported to Huntington Hospital for evaluation and released.

The vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

Anyone with information on this crash is requested to contact Major Case unit detectives at 631-852-6555.

File photo by Victoria Espinoza

Suffolk County police arrested a Coram woman for Leandra’s Law after she was allegedly involved in a single-vehicle crash May 28 that injured her three children.

Tyleen Smith was driving a 2004 Saturn Vue northbound on West Yaphank Road when her vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree in front of 99 West Yaphank Road at 6:07 a.m. Smith had four passengers in the vehicle, including the three children.

Smith’s 11-year-old twins, a boy and girl, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of broken bones. Smith and her 8-year-old son were also treated at Stony Brook University Hospital for minor injuries. Front seat passenger Talisha Thomas, 43, of Bellport, was transported to Long Island Medical Center in East Patchogue for treatment of minor injuries.

Smith, 36, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger 15 years old or younger (Leandra’s Law) and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She will be held overnight at the 4th Precinct and will be arraigned at 1st District Court in Central Islip May 29.

Suffolk County Child Protective Services was notified.

Attorney information was not immediately available.

Five people were injured Sunday when a SUV flipped onto its side on Larkfield Road in East Northport.

The East Northport Fire Department and Suffolk County police responded to reports of a motor vehicle crash near the intersection of Larkfield Road and Cedar Road at approximately 7 p.m. May 20. The accident involved a Toyota SUV that had overturned onto it’s side and had swiped another car. Firefighters had to use the heavy rescue tools including the “jaws of life” to remove the roof from the vehicle, according to fire department spokesman Steve Silverman.

The five occupants of the SUV, three adults and two children, were transported to Huntington Hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Silverman said. The driver of the car declined any medical assistance.

There were about 50 East Northport firefighters and emergency personnel who responded and were on the scene with four heavy rescue engines, four ambulances, paramedic first responders and fire police under the direction of fire Chief Dan Heffernan.

Huntington Station resident Michael Colangelo in uniform. Photo from Facebook

Two off-duty New York City police officers from Long Island were killed in an upstate car crash Sunday.

New York City Police Department said in a press statement Huntington Station resident Michael Colangelo, 31, and Hauppauge resident John Martinez, 39, were killed in a single-car crash May 20. Colangelo was assigned to the NYPD’s canine unit while Martinez worked in the 84th Precinct’s detective squad.

New York state police responded to reports of a fatal motor vehicle accident on Oliveria Road in Shandaken, New York at approximately 11:23 p.m. May 20. Police determined that Martinez was driving a 2018 Maserati when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a large tree, before flipping and coming to a stop on it’s roof. Both Colangelo, a passenger, and Martinez, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. A third passenger was transported to Albany Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Watch TBR News Media for more to come on this breaking news story.

Correction: Updated 2:38 p.m. May 21:  The NYPD officer killed is John Martinez, not James as first reported. 

File photo

Suffolk County police 2nd squad detectives are investigating a car accident that killed a man in Greenlawn Friday night.

Police said Michael Spera was driving a 1995 Nissan westbound on Clay Pitts Road near Stratford Avenue when he lost control and the car overturned at approximately 6:50 p.m. May 18. Spera, 34, of East Northport, was transported to Huntington Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Christopher Walsh, 36, of East Northport, a passenger in the car, was transported to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash to call the 2nd squad at 631-854-8252.

Police said driver allegedly had 26 suspensions on his license at time of accident

File photo

Suffolk County police arrested a Wyandanch man who was driving with 26 suspensions on his license after he allegedly left the scene of a Kings Park accident.

Rigoberto Campos. Photo from SCPD.

Rigoberto Campos was driving a 2010 Nissan Altima southbound on Indian Head Road, near Old Northport Road, in Kings Park at approximately 6:15 p.m. March 18 when his vehicle allegedly struck a 2006 Lexus driven by Audrey Montante, 77, of Kings Park. Campos continued driving for approximately one-quarter of a mile before he stopped his vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Police officers from the 4th Precinct apprehended and arrested Campos in a nearby wooded area at approximately 6:45 p.m.

Campos, a male passenger in the Altima and a male passenger in the Lexus were transported by Kings Park Fire Department ambulance to St. Catherine of Sienna Medical Center in Smithtown with non-life-threatening injuries. Montante were not injured.

Campos, 30, was arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation and leaving the scene of an accident with injury.  He was held overnight at the 4th Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip March 19.

Katlyn Lindahl, above left, and Jillian Dinowitz, above right, were honored for saving the life of Ryan Magill, at center, who was critically injured when he fell off a boat while giving sailing lessons. Photo from Jillian Dinowitz

A senior at Shoreham-Wading River High School was recently recognized as a hero for helping to save the life of her best friend over the summer.

Jillian Dinowitz snapped into action when she heard Ryan Magill screaming.

It was Aug. 9 and Dinowitz, 17, was in a powerboat on Moriches Bay giving sailing lessons to kids, ages 8 to 12, as an instructor at the Moriches Yacht Club. Her lifelong friend Magill, 17, who was instructing kids in another boat, had fallen overboard and was wailing and thrashing in red water. His left arm and pectoral region had been severely cut by the boat’s propeller.

Jillian Dinowitz, on left with Ryan Magill, are best friends and avid boaters since age 7. Photo from Jillian Dinowitz

Dinowitz, joined by another friend and instructor, rushed over to Magill, pulled him out of the water by his life jacket and got to work. As the boat sped back to shore and emergency services were called,  Dinowitz focused on keeping her friend calm and awake while Katlyn Lindahl, 18, made a tourniquet out of a towel and T-shirt. Dinowitz and Lindahl pressed it tightly against his blood-soaked arm.

“I honestly don’t know how I did it — it’s kind of a blur,” said Dinowitz, who admitted to feeling queasy at the sight of blood. “I would’ve done this for anybody in the water but just seeing that it was somebody so close to me, I kind of held myself together and just tried to stay strong for him. He’s the one that needed help at the time.”

Lindahl said while the two of them have had first aid training, their actions were entirely based on instinct.

“This was definitely a fight or flight thing,” she said. “There was no time at all really to think about what to do.”

Once back on land, Magill, a senior at Center Moriches High School, was emergency airlifted off the property to Stony Brook University Hospital. There, he underwent major surgeries. The doctors had to take a nerve out of his leg and transplant it into the damaged part of his shoulder.

They told him that if the girls hadn’t acted as quickly and effectively as they did, there was a good chance he could’ve died from blood loss or, at best, lost his arm.

“The difference they made was the difference between me being here and me not being here,” said Magill, who has since been slowly but steadily on the road to recovery. While he has trouble with menial tasks like tying his shoes and must wear a brace, he said he’s regained 50 percent of movement back in his arm and shoulder. “I’m doing very well, actually, and it’s thanks to Jillian and Katlyn. They literally saved my life and I’m in debt to them forever.”

His mother, Heather Magill, said her son has been incredibly positive throughout the entire experience and can be seen smiling every day no matter how tough things are.

“We’re in awe of him,” she said.

“After the accident, when we went to visit him in the recovery room, he said to my husband and me, ‘I love you guys … I need you to get me my phone, I have to call Jillian and Katlyn and tell them thank you for saving my life.’”

— Heather Magill

Magill’s and Dinowitz’s mothers, who have been best friends since high school, said the two teens have been inseparable since they were born. They joined the yacht club together when they were 7.

“I know in my heart there’s not a thing [Jillian] wouldn’t do for him in this whole world,”Heather Magill said. “It’s a testament to their friendship. We love her like family. After the accident, when we went to visit him in the recovery room, he said to my husband and me, ‘I love you guys … I need you to get me my phone, I have to call Jillian and Katlyn and tell them thank you for saving my life.’”

But for Jillian Dinowitz, it’s all about Ryan Magill getting back to his old self.

“When I visited him the day after the accident, it really hit me that something really serious happened, but it turned out okay and things are going to be better from there,” she said. “It’s amazing that he’s never gotten down about himself through all of this and has always been positive and willing to work hard to be where he was before the accident. It’s so inspiring.”

Nearly four months after the incident, on Nov. 28, the Shoreham-Wading River board of education honored Dinowitz, an Advanced Placement student and member of the school’s varsity tennis team, for her heroism, dedication and courage. As it happened in Center Moriches, Dinowitz said nobody at the school really knew about the incident, but it felt good to be recognized.

“Our true character often shines the brightest when we’re thrust into challenging circumstances,” high school Principal Frank Pugliese said of Dinowitz. “When that happened to Jillian this past summer, she rose to the occasion and helped to save a young man’s life. The entire Shoreham-Wading River community is so incredibly proud of her for her quick thinking and brave actions.”