Wife accidentally backed over, killed husband outside Westhampton Beach school, cops say
Police tape cordons off the scene of a fatal accident at Westhampton Beach High School on Saturday, April 18, 2015. An 80-year-old man died after being hit by a pickup truck at about 9:35 a.m., police said. Credit: Newsday / Sarah Armaghan
A pickup truck that accidentally struck and killed an 80-year-old man last week outside Westhampton Beach High School was driven by the man's wife, police said Thursday.
Westhampton Beach police have identified the victim as Ernest "Ernie" Davis of Westhampton. The driver of the 2009 GMC pickup truck was identified as his wife, Diane Herold, 69.
The fatal accident occurred Saturday morning on a sidewalk abutting the high school. A 911 call reporting it was made at 9:35 a.m., and police and ambulance crews arrived about a minute later outside the high school on Lilac Road, Westhampton Police Chief Trevor Gonce said.
Gonce said Thursday that the death remains under investigation, but added police think it was accidental.
Davis apparently was directing his wife into a parking space at a garden show when she backed into him, pinning him under the truck.
He was taken by ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he was pronounced dead.
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