Medford man charged with DWI after crashing into Sunrise Highway construction zone, causing fuel spill
John Arthur Seeger is walked from the Suffolk 6th Precinct on Friday morning for arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip. Credit: Joseph Sperber
A Medford man was charged with drunken driving after police said he drove into a restricted construction zone in Brookhaven and crashed into an unoccupied construction vehicle, causing a fuel spill that closed Sunrise Highway for about four hours overnight Thursday into Friday.
Suffolk County police said six construction workers were in the zone at the time but no one was hurt.
Police said the driver, identified as John Arthur Seeger, 48, also was not injured in the crash.
The crash happened at 11:37 p.m. Thursday between Exits 58 and 57 on westbound Sunrise Highway, police said.
It was then, according to an account provided by police, that Seeger, driving a 2026 Hyundai Tucson, entered the closed area in the right lane of the westbound roadway, striking the driver's side of the unoccupied vehicle and causing the fuel spill.
Investigators from the New York State Department of Transportation and police Motor Carrier Safety Section responded to the scene in addition to police Highway Patrol officers and members of the police Selective Fatality Enforcement Team.
Seeger was charged with driving while intoxicated and also was issued a traffic violation under the New York State Move Over Law. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment Friday in First District Court in Central Islip, court records show. He was released without cash bail. It was not immediately clear if he is represented by counsel.
The ensuing road closure of westbound Sunrise Highway was for the accident investigation and cleanup, police said,
According to the state Work Zone Safety Awareness webpage, there were 572 crashes in work zones on state roads in 2025, resulting in 87 injuries and three deaths of highway workers and vehicle occupants. Numbers for federal, state and local roads on Long Island were not immediately available.
Nationwide, the National Safety Council reports about 41,000 people were injured in highway construction zone crashes each year in the U.S.
In 2024, the safety council said 850 were killed nationwide in construction and maintenance safety zone crashes.
The 25-year high was 1,186 deaths in such crashes in 2002, while the lowest number of deaths was recorded in 2010, when 586 were killed.
More coverage: Every 7 minutes on average a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage happens on Long Island. A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people. To search for fatal crashes in your area, click here.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.
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