Seven-car crash in Deer Park sends 5 people to hospital, officials say
A total of seven cars were involved in a crash in Deer Park Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Credit: Neil Miller
A multi-vehicle crash in Deer Park that left five people hospitalized Saturday — two with critical injuries — began with a minor accident that escalated when the driver of the car involved in that initial accident drove the wrong way on Deer Park Avenue, striking four other vehicles, police said.
Suffolk County Police have not charged anyone in the incident, but said Monday that it remains under investigation.
According to a news release detailing the incident, police said a 2016 Mercedes Benz driven by a 36-year-old Queens man was involved in “a minor crash” with a 2020 Acura on northbound Deer Park Avenue at Jaqueline Way at 3:17 p.m. Police said the Mercedes then continued on headed northbound in the southbound lanes — and that “approximately one minute later,” it collided with a 2021 Honda Passport, a 2022 Toyota RAV-4, a 2013 Lexus LS and a 2022 Ford F-150. A 2020 Honda Civic was then struck by a tire that came off the Passport, police said.
Police said another vehicle, a 2015 Subaru Crosstrek, also was damaged by debris.
First responders with the Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department used the "jaws of life" to free a elderly man and a woman from one vehicle near Grand Boulevard, Chief of Department Robert Macaluso said. Police identified those two as the 71-year-old driver of the RAV-4 and his 69-year-old passenger and said they were among the patients to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip.
The two suffered what police described as serious injuries. The driver and a passenger in the Passport, and the driver of the Lexus, all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Police said the driver of the F-150 was not injured.
The driver of the Mercedes also was transported to Good Samaritan with serious injuries, police said.
Police said the occupants in the Honda Civic and Subaru were not injured.
Emergency crews from Dix Hills, West Babylon, North Babylon and West Islip also assisted at the scene, he said.
The crash forced police to close Deer Park Avenue at Grand Boulevard for several hours to investigate the crash.
With Janon Fisher
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 reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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