Tags Posts tagged with "Coram"

Coram

Suffolk County police car. File photo

Police say a man shot himself on Tuesday afternoon and his Coram house was intentionally set on fire.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, a passerby found the man slumped over in his vehicle at Tanglewood Park on Howe Road in Coram and called police to the scene shortly after 5 p.m. Homicide Squad detectives found the deceased man, 67, had a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigation revealed the victim resided at a house that had been set on fire earlier in the day, police said.

Officers had been called to a home on Hartsdale Lane around 3:30 p.m. to what was then an active house fire. The home was not occupied at the time of the incident, police said, and no one was hurt. Arson Squad detectives believe the fire was intentional.

The respective squads are investigating the two separate incidents.

File photo

Update: Police reported on April 25 that the pedestrian who was critically hurt in this crash, 56-year-old Coram resident Susan Restrepo, has died of her injuries.

A pedestrian was critically injured on Monday evening when an SUV swerved to avoid a vehicle without headlights on and hit her instead.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, 28-year-old Justin Vaughan was driving a 1994 Jeep west on Middle Country Road in Coram, west of Homestead Drive, at about 8:20 p.m. when a car without its headlights turned on crossed the road in front of him. Vaughan swerved to avoid a collision and hit pedestrian Susan Restrepo, 56.

Restrepo, a Coram resident, was listed in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital, police said. Vaughan was not hurt and the driver of dark vehicle, which was not involved in the crash, is not known.

Police impounded the Jeep for a safety check. Detectives from the SCPD’s 6th Squad are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the squad at 631-854-8652. All calls will remain confidential.

Sandro Vargas mugshot from SCPD

A man who was driving with his young son in the car was arrested on Thursday afternoon and charged with driving high and criminal possession.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the defendant, 41-year-old Sandro Vargas, was driving east in a 1990 Buick on Middle Country Road in Selden, at Park Hill Drive, at about 1:30 p.m. when he attempted to go around another car and allegedly sideswiped that car’s rear. His 7-year-old son was in the Buick at the time of the incident.

Patrol officer Greg Sandbichler from the 6th Precinct found Vargas to be under the influence of drugs, police said, and arrested him.

The boy complained of pain after the crash and was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital. Police said he was later released to a family member.

No one else was hurt in the incident.

Vargas, a Coram resident, was charged with aggravated driving while impaired by drugs with a child in the car — a felony under Leandra’s Law — and with endangering the welfare of a child and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Attorney information for Vargas was not immediately available. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

Abdelgheni Dakyouk mugshot from SCPD

Police have arrested the man they say is responsible for an early morning hit-and-run in Coram that killed a pedestrian.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, East Patchogue resident Abdelgheni Dakyouk, 48, has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal incident without reporting.

Shortly after the crash on Route 112 on Saturday, March 14, police reported that the victim had been walking north between Granny Road and Route 25 when he was hit by a light-colored, possibly tan vehicle. The incident occurred just before 6 a.m. and the driver, whose car had front-end damage, fled north.

Police arrested Dakyouk on March 18, following an investigation by detectives from the SCPD’s Vehicular Crime Unit.

Attorney information for Dakyouk was not available. He was scheduled to be arraigned on March 19.

Officials have not yet named the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene. But two days after the crash, police announced they had “tentatively identified” him as a 37-year-old Medford resident, awaiting positive identification by detectives and the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. Police said they had notified the person’s next of kin.