Upstate man killed when truck tractor rolls over him at Commack Target

A truck driver from upstate was fatally struck Tuesday in Commack by a truck tractor he had exited and then rolled backward over him, according to the Suffolk County Police Department, which is trying to figure out how that happened.

The driver, 62-year-old Abdelmontalab Sati of upstate Amsterdam, was found unconscious at about 4:42 p.m. at 98 Veterans Memorial Highway, his legs pinned behind the back of the truck, a 2023 International, the department wrote in a news release.

The location is the back side of a Target store near its loading docks.

Another truck driver saw Sati pinned behind the tractor, and called 911, the police press office wrote by email.

"No one witnessed the incident, and there is no video, but detectives determined that the parking brake had not been activated," the email said.

Detectives don't know yet what time the crash occurred but are investigating, the release says. Sati had come from Amsterdam, which is in the Albany area.

Sati was later pronounced dead at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown.

The release did not provide the truck model, but some 2023 International brand tractors have been subject to recalls, including for a parking brake problem, according to recallcheck.net.

The press office email said that the recall is not relevant to the crash.

The tractor had no trailer, the email said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.