DOT Worker Helping At DWI Crash Site On LIE Struck, Seriously Hurt By 2nd Vehicle With Drunken Driver: Police

HOLTSVILLE, NY — A Department of Transportation worker responding to the scene of a crash involving a drunken driver was struck and seriously hurt when another drunken driver's vehicle careened into him on the Long Island Expressway in Holtsville Thursday night, Suffolk police said.

The scenario unfolded after Suffolk Highway Patrol Units and DOT personnel were dispatched to the eastbound lane of the LIE, near Exit 63, at the scene of a single-vehicle crash involving a drunken driver at around 9:40 p.m., according to police.

A DOT worker parked his vehicle, a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado, behind the overturned vehicle, and as he was placing traffic cones in the roadway toward the rear of the overturned vehicle, an eastbound 2018 Toyota Camry, driven by a 54-year-old man from Centereach, struck him and crashed into the Chevrolet at around 10:30 p.m., according to police.

The DOT worker, 47, from Mastic, was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of
serious injuries, police said, adding that the driver was also taken there for treatment of minor injuries and released into police custody.

The Centereach man was charged with driving while intoxicated, and is being held overnight at the 6th Precinct in Selden for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Friday, police said.

The driver involved in the first crash, a 30-year-old man from Mastic Beach, was also charged with DWI, but was not hurt, according to police.

The vehicles were impounded, according to police.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash to 631-854-8652.