John Sanmartino ID'd as e-bike rider killed in Riverhead crash

A man died Wednesday afternoon after crashing an e-bike in Riverhead, the town’s police department said.

About 5:39 p.m., officers responded to the parking lot of Ross Dress for Less on Old Country Road after a report of a man "laying in the parking lot," the Town of Riverhead Police Department said in a news release.

The police found John Sanmartino, 54, in the rear parking lot unconscious and in traumatic arrest, the release said. An investigation revealed Sanmartino was riding the e-bike without a helmet and crashed into a chain-link fence along a tree line.

The victim was homeless, according to the police.

The Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps. transported Sanmartino to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he died of his injuries, police said.

Wednesday's crash marked the first fatal e-bike crash of 2026 on Long Island, according to Newsday's database of fatal vehicular crashes. Seven people were killed in e-bike crashes last year.

The crash was also one of two e-bike collisions Wednesday afternoon. A Huntington Station man, 23, sustained injuries considered serious but not life-threatening after he “lost control” of an e-bike in a Huntington parking lot, the Suffolk County Police Department said in a news release. About 2:20 p.m., the man hit a curb, was ejected from the bike and launched into a storefront at 35 Gerard St., shattering a window.

The address police released matches that for the Italian eatery, Joanina. A representative of the restaurant declined to comment when reached by telephone Wednesday evening.

The man was transported to Huntington Hospital and the bike was impounded for a safety inspection.

Riverhead police detectives are investigating the fatal crash and ask anyone who witnessed or may have information regarding the crash to call the department confidentially at 631-727-4500.

Anyone with information regarding the Huntington crash is asked to call Second Squad detectives at 631-854-8252.