Suffolk County Police 2nd Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a man in Northport July 29.
Northport resident James Cherry was driving a 2016 Subaru eastbound on Fort Salonga Road at Layne Way when his vehicle struck a man who stepped off the sidewalk in an attempt to cross the road at approximately 11:45 a.m. Sunday.
Peter Carroll, 68 of Northport, was transported to Huntington Hospital via Northport Rescue where he was pronounced dead. Cherry, 27, of Northport, was not injured.
The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the 2nd Squad at 631-854-8252.
Nico's Way serves as reminder of child's character
Vincent Sr. and Kim Signore embrace one another while their son Vincent Jr. speaks during the street-renaming ceremony. Photo by Kevin Redding
By Kevin Redding
After her son was fatally struck by an SUV earlier this year, Kim Signore of Miller Place feared 14-year-old Nico would be forgotten. But a new street sign on the block where the budding lacrosse star grew up will help preserve his memory forever.
The Signores huddled together alongside family, friends and elected officials Oct. 6 during an unveiling of the sign labeled Nico’s Way. The dedication was done on the corner of Miller Place Road and Islander Court in Miller Place for the boy who died riding his bike on a busy intersection on Route 25A in February. The street sign, which stands only a few houses down from the Signore residence, was installed by the Town of Brookhaven at the request of members of the family.
“This block is where it all began for Nico,” the boy’s older brother, Vincent Jr., said before the unveiling. “Nico left us too soon, but in the little time he was here on this Earth he taught us how to live life to the fullest. He will never be forgotten. We hope that this street serves as a compass when you are lost and can’t find your way.”
Nico Signore’s Miller Place lacrosse teammates attend the ceremony to pay their respects and remember their fallen friend. Photo by Kevin Redding
Kathleen Perry, a longtime friend of the Signore family, agrees the dedication is a wonderful way to help Nico live on.
“Nico just lit up this block,” Perry said, remembering the 14-year-old as the most kindhearted boy she’d met. “I think this is a great thing for the town to do.”
Nico’s aunt, Mary Alipo, said although the family will never be the same after the tragedy, townwide support is helping with the healing process.
“He was such an amazing individual and to see this many people who cared about him coming forward and serving as a support group is just incredible,” Alipo said.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) commended the Miller Place community for rallying around the Signores in their time of need.
“Thank you for opening your hearts and your arms to the Signores — I know you will forever keep Nico’s memory in your embrace,” Bonner said to the large crowd, including Miller Place school district faculty, members of Nico’s lacrosse team and neighbors, as well as Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R). “You have all been there to prop them up, hug them when they needed it and dry their tears. This is a wonderful community.”
Kim and Vincent Sr. Signore unveil the new Nico’s Way sign in memory of their son. Photo by Kevin Redding
An emotional Kim Signore held back tears as she thanked everyone in attendance.
“You guys are amazing,” she said.
Upon losing Nico, the mother’s greatest fear was that, over time, her son’s legacy would disappear.
“This is a way to always remember him because he was such a good kid — a beautiful boy inside and out,” she said. She laughed recalling the impromptu dance sessions to Frank Sinatra songs that Nico often initiated. “He would come downstairs in his lacrosse shorts, and no shirt and say, ‘Let’s dance, ma.’ He was a good boy. He loved this community. He loved everybody.”
The idea for a street sign initially came from Kim and Vincent, Nico’s father, and was carried through by Nico’s aunt and uncle, Kelly and Charles Butruch, who were in contact with Romaine and Bonner for most of the year. As Brookhaven policy requires a six-month window between a person’s death and public memorialization, a resolution for Nico’s Way was approved at the end of August.
Vincent Signore hopes that the sign will serve as not only a memorialization of his son but as a reminder to drivers to be more careful.
“I would like for people to be more aware of their surroundings when they’re driving and not be distracted,” he said.
Since Nico’s death at the intersection of Miller Place Road and Route 25A, there have been significant changes to the location to ensure better safety for pedestrians and drivers alike.
Sophia, Vincent Jr., Vincent Sr. and Kim Signore are overwhelmed with emotion recalling memories of their brother and son Nico Signore during a street-renaming ceremony in Miller Place. Photo by Kevin Redding
Around what would have been Nico’s 15th birthday in April, the road saw the implementation of a red left-turn signal to stop cars from entering the crosswalk when pedestrians and bicyclists are given the go-ahead to get to the other side. No turn on red signs were also added.
“It’s bittersweet,” Kelly Butruch said. “A year ago, did I think we would be here today? No, and I wish we didn’t have to be, but it’s the best way to memorialize him.”
Michael Lombardi, a Miller Place 10th grader
and lacrosse player, remembers his friend as an amazing person on and off the field.
A scholarship fund for Miller Place seniors who show exemplary spirit, courage and love of community was given out to two students this past May. The family intends to continue the fund throughout the future.
As the Signores and community members gathered under the sign, they shared stories of the highly regarded student-athlete.
“Nico was astounding,” Lombardi said. “He had a great personality — he was funny. He was always nice to everybody and a great player. Whenever we needed a goalie, he stepped up. He’s greatly missed.”
Another of Nico’s former teammates, Kevin Thompson, said his friend will never be forgotten.
“Whenever you pass the sign here and look at it, we’ll think of him,” he said.
A scene of the car crash in East Northport Friday afternoon. Photo from East Northport Fire Department.
The East Northport Fire Department responded to a motor vehicle accident involving a car that crashed into the gas pumps at the Metro Mart Gas Station on Route 25A east of Laurel Road Friday, June 16, at about 4:05 p.m.
The driver was able to remove himself from the overturned car and was transported to Huntington Hospital with minor injuries. An ambulance, two heavy rescue engines and a paramedic responder were dispatched with approximately 25 fire and EMS personnel, under the command of Assistant Chief Dan Flanagan. The Town of Huntington Fire Marshal and Suffolk Police were also on the scene.
Suffolk County's Public Works Committee will vote Aug. 29 to decide the future of red-light camera program. TBR News Media file photo
When it comes to Suffolk County’s red light camera program, Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) said he’s seen enough.
Trotta took to the intersection of Indian Head Road and Jericho Turnpike in Commack on Monday to call on the county to pull the emergency brake on its red light camera initiative and reevaluate, citing an increase in traffic crashes with injuries at that location.
The legislator picked the Indian Head Road red light camera location because the county’s 2014 Red Light Safety Program report showed crashes with injuries had gone up more than 100 percent there, making it a prime spot to prove Trotta’s point. The annual report said the yearly average of reported crashes with injury went from 8.7 before the camera’s installation to 19.3 after. The camera at that intersection was installed in January 2014, giving the 2014 report 11 months of traffic data to work with while comparing it to traffic patterns recorded over three years between 2007 and 2009.
Back in October, Trotta joined with other Republican lawmakers from Suffolk County to solicit input from the public about the red light camera program. At the time, he said residents alerted him about an increase in rear-end crashes since people were stopping abruptly at yellow lights to avoid being ticketed. The 2014 annual report on the red light program proved that notion.
According to the report, rear-end crashes increased by 42 percent since the cameras were installed.
“Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has turned the residents of Smithtown into crash test dummies,” Trotta said on Monday. “This is just another example of [the Bellone administration’s] attempt to raise revenues through ‘taxation by citation.’”
However, the county’s Red Light Safety Program was enacted in 2009 — years before Bellone assumed the county executive position in 2012.
The annual report said the county collected $27.5 million in citation payments in 2014 and paid $9.5 million to the vendor to operate the program. The net proceeds were credited to the county’s general fund.
Backing up Trotta was Lawrence Zacarese, assistant chief of police and director of the Office of Emergency Management at Stony Brook University. In his remarks, speaking as a paramedic who has served Suffolk for decades, Zacarese said the Indian Head Road and Jericho Turnpike intersection was a dangerous spot in Commack and red light cameras only made it worse by forcing drivers to jam on their brakes at yellow lights in order to avoid tickets.
“People are confused,” he said. “The data shows that clearly.”
Paul Margiotta, executive director of the county’s Traffic and Parking Violations Agency, defended the county’s program while citing the report’s evidence of decreasing crash figures coupled with increasing trends of distracted drivers.
“The Suffolk County red light camera program has reduced crashes involving injuries at intersections with cameras and dramatically reduced right-angle crashes, which have the highest potential for serious injuries or even fatalities, by more than 20 percent,” he said. “Intersections with red light cameras on average are safer than intersections without cameras. Unfortunately, crashes throughout all of Suffolk County have increased, primarily because of distracted driving which has more than doubled since just 2012. It is clear that Suffolk County needs to do more, not less, to address traffic safety.”
At intersections where cameras were installed, overall crashes decreased by 3 percent, right-angle crashes went down by 21 percent and crashes involving injury decreased 4 percent, according to the county report.
Trotta’s pleas came on the same day repeat offender Stephen Ruth, of Centereach, was arrested for allegedly tampering with 19 of the cameras throughout the county.
Ruth was first cuffed in August for allegedly using a pole to reach several red light cameras in Ronkonkoma and turn their lenses away from the road and toward the sky. He was charged with criminal tampering and obstructing governmental administration.
Police said Ruth “cut wires and manipulated equipment” on 18 of those cameras between April 9 and 10. The 19th camera incident in question dates back to Jan. 18, police said, when Ruth allegedly cut down a camera pole at the intersection of County Road 83 and Old Town Road in Coram.
According to a police estimate, the incidents caused at least $25,000 of damage.
Ruth, 43, has been charged with two felony counts of second-degree criminal mischief. Hauppauge-based attorneys William J. Keahon and Craig Fleischer are representing him on those charges but are not commenting on the case, according to their law office.
Ruth’s arrest comes about a week after another man was arrested for allegedly tampering with red light cameras. Bryan Valentine, of St. James, has been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal tampering after police said the 26-year-old placed plastic bags over red light cameras at the signal in the Main Street and Landing Avenue intersection in Smithtown.
Attorney information for Valentine was not available.
In interviews Ruth — whom his supporters have dubbed the “Red Light Robin Hood” — has stood behind his actions. He has received praise from people who oppose the county’s red light camera program and say it is simply a money grab, as the county receives much revenue from the tickets generated.
A man was seriously injured in Centereach on Wednesday afternoon when he lost control of his SUV and was ejected during a crash.
The Suffolk County Police Department said 35-year-old Michael Negron was driving north on Nicolls Road when he lost control of the 1997 Ford Explorer and hit a guardrail. From there, the car entered the median and overturned onto the southbound side of the road.
Police said Negron was ejected from the Ford.
The Bellport resident was listed in serious condition at Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.
There were no other passengers in the vehicle.
Police impounded the Explorer for a safety check. Detectives from the SCPD’s 6th Squad are investigating the crash.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or have information about it is asked to call detectives at 631-854-8652.
Prev
