LI Teens Charged In Fatal Southern State Parkway Crash: DA

NORTH BABYLON, NY — A pair of Long Island teens are facing manslaughter charges for the Southern State Parkway crash that claimed the life of a 75-year-old man in July 2021, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Friday afternoon.

On July 12, 2021, a 16-year-old boy was in a stolen Jeep Cherokee driving eastbound on the parkway in North Babylon, "erratically and recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic without signaling" and speeeding "in excess of the posted 55 mph speed limit, going over to at least 100 mph," while being followed by a 15-year-old driving a stolen Range Rover, prosecutors said.

As he continued to drive, the teen cut between two cars, driving on the dotted white line — between one car in the center lane and one car in the right lane — and after navigating between those two cars, the driver of the Range Rover "tried to do the same," but the rover collided with the cars of two victims, including one in the center and the other in the right lane, according to prosecutors.

One of the victim’s cars crashed into the center median and the driver sustained a laceration to his head that required staples, and a car in the right lane flipped and crashed, killing the driver, Richard Riggs of Holbrook, prosecutors said.

The Jeep's driver turned it around, drove westbound on the eastbound shoulder of the parkway and drove back to the crash site, and picked up the driver of the Rover and a passenger before speeding away from the scene, according to prosecutors.

Later that same day, the Jeep's driver was involved in another crash in Bay Shore where he went through a stop sign, struck another car, and then ran away, prosecutors said, adding, the driver of that car had "minor injuries."

DNA analysis helped in the investigation by linking the Jeep's driver to the crimes, according to prosecutors.

State police troopers tried to arrest the Jeep's driver in Westchester at a juvenile detention center where he was being held on another crime, but he jumped out of a window and ran away from the facility, prosecutors said, adding that he was "eventually tracked down sometime later in the morning" by the troopers, who found him in the backyard of a home and took him into custody.

Tierney credited the troopers and Suffolk police for their help in the case.

“It is alleged that these defendants recklessly sped through the parkway with vehicles that did not belong to them without considering the laws they were breaking and the lives they put at risk including their own,” Tierney said. “This was a senseless crime that took the life of a husband, a father and grandfather for no good reason."

"We look forward to bringing those responsible to justice,” he added.

Judge Karen Kerr ordered the driver of the Jeep to be held on $500,000 cash bail, $750,000 secured bond or $1 million partially-secured bond. He represented by Bill Sammis and is due back in court April 6.

Because the second teen, who was driving the Range Rover was 15 years old at the time of the crime, he was arraigned in Family Court. Both teens are being charged with second-degree manslaughter and assault, as well as third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.