3 killed in two-car crash in Oyster Bay
Ronald Chavez, white shirt, and Hector Gonzalez comfort each other at the scene of last night's fatal accident which killed their friend Israel Maldonado. The accident occurred on Pine Hollow Road in Oyster Bay. (May 31, 2010) Credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan
A speeding unlicensed driver being pursued by police slammed into an oncoming Jeep Cherokee in Oyster Bay, police said, killing three people and devastating two families.
An Old Brookville police officer clocked Israel Maldonado, 23, driving 76 mph in a 1994 Nissan Altima on Route 106 at 10:45 p.m. Sunday night, said Lt. Det. John Azzata of Nassau Police Department's homicide squad.
The Old Brookville officer activated his lights and siren and took off after Maldonado's Nissan, which traveled 3.6 miles north before colliding head-on with a 2004 Jeep Cherokee driven by Peter M. Sherlock, 38, of East Norwich, near the corner of Route 106 and Pine Drive. The force of the 10:47 p.m. collision sent Sherlock's Jeep 125 feet backward, Azzata said. A witness told Newsday Sherlock was driving without his headlights on.
Maldonado, who Nassau police said was not licensed to drive in New York, and Sherlock were killed instantly. Maldonado's passenger, his cousin Adán Suazo, 17, also died at the scene, Nassau police said.
Patrick Aquilino, 42, of Oyster Bay, said he was standing outside Morgan Gentry's Pub and Grill near the crash site Sunday night when he heard the blare of police sirens and saw a black Jeep with its headlights off moving south along Route 106, known there as Pine Hollow Road.
"I'm thinking to myself, 'This guy doesn't have his headlights on,' " Aquilino said. He said he heard the police sirens and, seconds later, saw the crash.
"As soon as the crash happened, I saw four Old Brookville police cars pulling off to the side with their lights on," Aquilino said.
Azzata said Nassau police "are not going to classify it as a police chase" because it was not known whether Maldonado and Suazo knew the Old Brookville officer was following them. There were "a number" of vehicles between the Nissan and the squad car, Azzata said, and the Old Brookville officer lost sight of Maldonado's car "at several points," Nassau Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said.
Old Brookville police declined to comment on the case. Nassau police declined to identify the Old Brookville officer.
The speed limit at Route 106 and Kirby Lane - where the Old Brookville officer clocked the Nissan on radar - is 55 mph. It drops to 40 mph at the East Norwich boundary, just south of Route 25A, and remains 40 mph into Oyster Bay.
The Nissan passed a major intersection at Route 25A and was still headed north on Route 106, there known as Pine Hollow Road, when it veered into the southbound lane and crashed into the Jeep about 300 feet south of Pine Drive, Azzata said.
Azzata said witnesses at the accident scene told police Maldonado's Nissan was going faster than 76 mph before it collided with Sherlock's Jeep.
Grief-stricken relatives gathered Monday in Oyster Bay at the Maxwell Avenue home where Maldonado and Suazo rented rooms from Maldonado's older brother, Alejandro Maldonado.
Alejandro Maldonado, 37, said his brother worked for a local landscaping company.
"Everyone has their day, the day they're going to die," he said. "I think that's just the way it is." With William Murphy
