Car crashes into Welcome to Jones Beach monument, driver killed, State Police say
Officers at the "Welcome to Jones Beach" monument on the Meadowbrook State Parkway, where police say a car crashed and burst into flames Tuesday morning. Credit: John Scalesi
State Police said Wednesday that they were waiting for autopsy results to confirm the identity of a driver killed in a fiery car crash into the "Welcome to Jones Beach" monument Tuesday morning on the Meadowbrook State Parkway.
A State Police spokesman said an identification made earlier on a police website blotter was posted in error and that police had confirmed only the name of the registered owner of the vehicle.
The crash occurred at 8:05 a.m. at Exit M10, the exit for the Loop Parkway leading to Point Lookout, Lido and Long Beach, police said.
No passengers were in the vehicle, police said.
Police said witnesses told them the vehicle was traveling at "a high rate of speed" when it left the roadway and slammed into the monument wall.
The monument is on a triangle-shaped median between the main roadway and the exit ramp leading to the loop.
Additional information about the crash was not immediately available.
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact investigators at 631-756-3300. All calls will remain confidential.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
