Sunken Meadow State Park toll booth crashes: Police search for answers after repeat incidents

State police are examining whether the fatal crashes one week apart at the Sunken Meadow State Park toll booth plaza in Kings Park are connected — and if they were intentional acts, copycats or accidental.

No conclusions have been reached. The two victims killed in the fiery crashes also have not been positively identified, according to state police spokesperson Brittany Burton.

In an email Wednesday, Burton wrote that the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office was working on identification using DNA and dental records. The medical examiner's office referred an interview request to a county spokesperson who did not immediately respond to questions. 

The first crash occurred at about 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 14, when a single vehicle hit two of the five brick toll booths at the northern terminus of the Sunken Meadow State Parkway and burst into flames.

Police said the damage from the crash and subsequent fire were so significant that investigators need forensics to determine the identity of the driver who was killed.

Following the crash, barricades were erected in front of several of the booths, as state parks officials worked to assess the damage — and determine a plan to restore the plaza.

And then Monday, just after 1 p.m., another car careened through the barricades and into the booths — also erupting in a fiery explosion, killing that driver.

State parks officials said the toll plaza, consisting of five booths and six lanes, was constructed in 1958. The booths and the nearby control building were reconstructed and updated in late 2017.

Officials could not immediately provide records for any prior accidents or crashes at the location.

Burton in an email said police are not "going to speculate as to the cause or circumstances of either crash, including whether either incident was accidental or intentional, or whether there is any connection between the two.

"Those are all matters investigators are working to determine," she added. "We understand the questions raised by two fatal crashes occurring in the same general location within a short period of time. If the investigations establish a connection, or if there are any public safety concerns that need to be communicated, we will provide that information."

Meanwhile, parks officials said engineers and inspectors are again assessing damage to the booths — two of which were heavily damaged, with a third suffering minor damage — and will then determine a plan to rebuild or reconfigure the park entrance.

The booths were not occupied at the time of either crash, the parks department said.

Newsday's Nicholas Spangler contributed to this story.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

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.