Driver Identified In Tractor-Trailer Crash: Cops

EASTPORT, NY — Three people were hospitalized after back-to-back crashes involving five vehicles on Sunrise Highway in Eastport Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The first crash occurred in the eastbound lanes of the highway east of Exit 62–County Road 111 and involved a single dump truck, which exited the highway into the wooded area on the right shoulder due to a tire blowout.

Traffic backed up when police closed the right lane to investigate and at about 1 p.m., a tractor-trailer driven by 54-year-old Noah M. Kuloglu, of East Northport, struck several vehicles that were stopped in traffic, continued off the highway and came to rest in the wooded area on the right shoulder. Police say Kuloglu had "failed to adequately reduce his speed."

The drivers of the two of the involved vehicles were transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the dump truck was also transported to Peconic Bay with non-life threatening injuries.

Photos courtesy Eastport Fire Department