Police ID Driver In 'Horrific' Hamptons Crash That Left 1 Dead, 3 Injured, Halted Traffic For 4 Hours: PD

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — The driver killed in a devastating five-vehicle crash on County Road 39 in Southampton Wednesday has been identified as Anasser Almontaser, 33, of Staten Island, police said.

According to Southampton Town police, Almontaser was the operator of the 2014 GMC van involved in the fatal crash.

At about 3:16 p.m. Wednesday, a 911 call was received regarding a crash involving multiple vehicles on County Road 39 near the cross street of Saint Andrews Road West, police said.

Southampton Town police patrol units and New York State troopers, along with members of the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance and Southampton Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene, police said.

Responding units found that a multi-vehicle collision had occurred, culminating in a head-on collision between a westbound 2022 White Dodge Ram pick-up and an eastbound 2014 White GMC van, police said.

The collision blocked the road and resulted in Almontaser sustaining fatal injuries; he was declared deceased at the scene, police said.

The Southampton Town Police Department's detective division responded to the scene to investigate, police said.

The road was unpassable because it was blocked by the five vehicles involved in the collision, police said.

Investigation included interviewing witnesses who indicated that the eastbound 2014 White GMC van was heading eastbound on County Road 39, when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle left its designated lane of travel and side-swiped a westbound 2019 Volkswagon SUV with such impact that it dislodged the driver’s rear tire from that vehicle and caused that vehicle to spin around in the roadway, police said.

Investigation further indicated that the 2014 White GMC van continued eastbound, side-impacting a second westbound vehicle, described as 2017 Maroon Toyota pick-up, which resulted in "catastrophic damage," police said.

Many items used for construction were ejected from the bed of the truck and landed across County Road 39, police said.

That same 2014 White GMC then sideswiped a third vehicle, described as 2018 International flatbed tow truck, before colliding head-on in the westbound lane of travel with the westbound 2022 White Dodge Ram pick-up truck, police said.

The collisions caused a debris field of more than 600 feet and left four vehicles essentially totaled in the travel portions of all lanes of County Road 39, police said.

Three people were taken to the hospital as a result of the collision with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to investigate and the Southampton Fire Department was needed to extricate the deceased individual's body from the vehicle, police said.

The Southampton Town Police Department utilized its unmanned aircraft unit to aid in documenting the "horrific" crash during the crash investigation, police said.

The collisions resulted in County Road 39 being closed to westbound traffic at Tuckahoe Road and eastbound traffic at Shrubland Road from the time of the crash until about 7:32 p.m.

The investigation into the collision is ongoing and Southampton detectives encourage anyone with information about the incident to contact the Southampton Town Police Department's detective division