Truck driver faces criminal charges in Bellmore three-vehicle crash
A three-vehicle crash Friday night on Sunrise Highway in Bellmore started when a tractor trailer hit a vehicle stopped in a left turn lane, Nassau County police said. Credit: Paul Mazza
A tractor trailer driver from New Jersey was arrested Friday night on misdemeanor charges of criminal recklessness after he crashed into another vehicle in Bellmore, causing that vehicle to strike a third one, according to the Nassau County Police Department.
The crash happened on Sunrise Highway at about 10:05 p.m. when the trucker, David Gonzalez, 38, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, struck a vehicle that was stopped in a left-hand turn lane near the Bellmore Avenue intersection, according to a department news release. The impact caused that vehicle to strike another vehicle in that same turning lane, the release said.
The driver in the vehicle struck by Gonzalez's tractor trailer, age 59, suffered injuries, including to his face, and was brought by ambulance to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. The driver of the third vehicle, 56, sustained back and neck injuries and went for treatment from his own physician. Gonzalez also was treated at Nassau University Medical Center for back and neck injuries, the release said.
Police did not release the names of the drivers in the vehicles hit by the truck.
Gonzalez is charged with two counts of assault; reckless endangerment; and reckless driving. At an arraignment Saturday at First District Court, he was freed by Judge Joy Watson, according to online court records. A notation in the records indicates he was freed under the state's bail law that went into effect in 2020 eliminating bail for many lower-level offenses. The case is due back at court Aug. 31. The records do not list a defense attorney for Gonzalez.
Officer Daniel Dugan, a police spokesman, said Saturday evening that Gonzalez was criminally charged based on the manner in which he was driving. Dugan declined to elaborate.
Charges against drivers who cause crashes on Long Island are rare, even when pedestrians and cyclists are killed, a Newsday investigation found in May.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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