Woman, child thrown from cab, 2 drivers hurt, Riverhead cops say

Four people were hospitalized when a taxicab and another vehicle slammed into another vehicle on Roanoke Avenue near Southern Parkway in Riverhead Tuesday evening, police said.

Officers said cabdriver Zafar Mahood, 59, of Riverhead was traveling south in a 2006 Chrysler taxi on Roanoke and turned into the path of and collided with a 2001 Dodge driven by Thomas D. Jones, 51, of Riverhead, at 5:23 p.m.

A Riverhead woman and a young boy, whose age is either 3 or 4, were ejected from the rear of the taxi, police said.

The woman, Estela Ortiz-Casia, 27, the boy and the two drivers were taken to hospitals by Riverhead Town Volunteer Ambulance and Flanders-North Hampton Ambulance.

Ortiz-Casia was rushed to Peconic Bay Medical Center and then transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital. The boy and the cabdriver were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center and Jones was taken to Southampton Hospital. All were being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.

Riverhead police detectives are investigating and said anyone who saw the crash could call 631-727-4500 with details.