Boy, 12, killed crossing road in Flower Hill, Nassau County Police Department says
A 12-year-old boy was killed crossing Middle Neck Road near Northern Boulevard in Flower Hill on Monday evening, police said. Credit: Neil Miller
A 12-year-old boy was killed running across a road in Flower Hill on Monday evening by a pickup truck driven by an 18-year-old man, according to the Nassau County Police Department.
The boy was identified as Nathan Ha of Flower Hill, the department said Tuesday evening in a news release.
The crash happened at about 6:38 p.m. when the boy "ran across Middle Neck Road outside of a crosswalk" near Northern Boulevard and was struck by the driver, who was northbound in a 2023 Ford pickup, the department wrote in an earlier news release.
The boy was brought to a local hospital with critical injuries, the release said, and then pronounced dead.
In a statement issued by spokesman Chris Boyle, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said: “My heart goes out to the family of the boy who tragically died at way too young an age. Words are inadequate for the grief that is being endured by his family and friends.”
Nathan's family couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
No additional details about the driver — such as his name and hometown — were disclosed. Nor did the release say what caused the crash, provide the driver’s speed or indicate fault.
Det. Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a county police spokesman, said Tuesday that he couldn’t answer questions about the crash, but a “thorough investigation conducted by vehicular crimes detectives from the Homicide Squad” determined there was no criminality. He didn’t provide the basis for that conclusion.
The driver stayed at the crash scene, the release said.
Last year, there were 287 pedestrians killed in crashes in New York State, including 23 in Nassau and 34 in Suffolk, according to preliminary statistics from the University at Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research.
Newsday reported last year that 2023 was Long Island’s deadliest for young drivers in the 11 years state data has been readily available.
The risk of vehicle crashes is higher among those ages 16 to 19 than any other age group nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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