Two individuals were hurt, one critically, in a multi-vehicle collision early on Wednesday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview involving an unlicensed tractor-trailer that struck an overpass. Both, according to the police, were passengers in the automobile that hit the tractor-trailer.
After the collision, the driver of the tractor-trailer, Jose De La Rosa-Martinez, 39, of the Bronx, allegedly fled the scene in the tractor cab before turning himself into police at the state police barracks in East Meadow. He was accused of abandoning the scene of a personal injury collision and second-degree reckless endangerment, according to police. Information on the arrest was not immediately available.
It was also unclear right away if he had legal representation. According to the police, De La Rosa-Martinez was operating the 2009 Freightliner truck when it collided with the overpass at Eagle Avenue-Hempstead Lake State Park while traveling west on the Southern State.
According to authorities, a 911 call was made at 3:48 a.m. reporting the collision. Where the tractor-trailer entered the road was not immediately obvious. Parkways are off-limits to commercial vehicles in New York State.
The Veltri trucking business, which could not be immediately reached for comment, looked to be the owner of the truck.
According to police, a westbound 2007 Acura RDX struck the back of the tractor-trailer after the original collision. The Acura’s driver, 53-year-old Valley Stream resident Kereen Wiggins, was hurt badly but not seriously, according to the police. Before being moved to NYC Health+ Hospitals/Bellevue in Manhattan, she was taken to NYU Langone Hospital in Mineola.
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According to the authorities, an Acura passenger was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside.
Following the collision, police shut down all lanes of the westbound parkway between Exits 19S, Peninsula Boulevard, and 18, Eagle Avenue-Hempstead Lake State Park, for about 512 hours. At around 7:45 a.m., a flatbed truck arrived to tow away the wrecked passenger car.
At around 8:10 a.m., the parkway’s one lane was reopened to vehicles. At around 9:15 a.m., the severely damaged trailer was pulled off the parkway and onto the adjoining southbound exit ramp. About 20 minutes later, police restored all lanes of traffic, but the exit ramp remained closed because the tow truck and trailer were blocking it until 10:45 a.m.
There was no change in eastbound traffic. The scene was surrounded by detectives from the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Collision Reconstruction Unit, Forensic Identification Unit, and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit. Anyone with information on the collision is urged to call the police at 631-756-3300.
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