Riverhead police: Driver dies after Jeep crashes into school bus

A 31-year-old Valley Stream man died after his Jeep Grand Cherokee swerved into oncoming traffic and hit head on a school bus occupied by a driver and a child on Sound Avenue in Riverhead Thursday afternoon, town police said.

Riverhead Town Police said the driver of the Jeep, John A. Caputo, was not breathing when officers reached him shortly before 5 p.m., according to a release from the department's Det. Edward Carey. Officers, who initially had responded to reports of an erratic driver, performed CPR and Riverhead Town Volunteer Ambulance took Caputo to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The student passenger on the Riverhead Central School District bus reported no injuries. The bus driver, Ana Membreno Argueta, 30, had injuries that were not life-threatening and was also taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center.

Police did not provide the cause of the crash or of Caputo's death in the release, and Carey could not immediately be reached for comment. Town detectives and the New York State Police accident Reconstruction Team were assisting in the investigation, and town police were seeking accounts from anyone who witnessed the crash. The number for the public to call is 631-727-4500, extension 328.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.