Vincent Armusewicz, of Water Mill, dies after crashing pickup truck into tree in Islandia, police say

A Water Mill man died after crashing his pickup into a tree along the Long Island Expressway's westbound service road in Islandia on Wednesday, police said.

Vincent Armusewicz, 82, was driving his 2023 Chevrolet Colorado on Express Drive North near Veterans Memorial Highway when he struck a tree, Suffolk police said in a news release.

Suffolk police detectives believe Armusewicz "may have suffered a medical event prior to the crash," the department said in the release.

Armusewicz was transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was declared dead, police said. His vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

For about 50 years, Armusewicz ran his own floor finishing business, Peter Enstine, his longtime friend, told Newsday in a telephone interview late Wednesday.

Enstine, 82, of Southampton, said he knew Armusewicz as "a great friend" since they met in the 1st grade.

"He wasn't a great student — he copied off my papers all the time — but he was a great athlete, a good football player," Enstine recalled. "I played golf with him for 20 years."

After retirement, Armusewicz loved playing rummy, occasionally betting on horses, and golf, Enstine said. For more than two decades, Armusewicz served as the president of the Southampton Golf Club. Since Armusewicz  could not remember the names of the hundreds of club members, Enstine said, he'd called most of them "rookie." 

"He thought he could perhaps make the club better, and he did," Enstine recalled of Armusewicz's tenure, which ended a few years ago. "He built a new clubhouse, he built a pro shop, he renovated the golf course ... I think he was admired by the whole population of the golf club."

Suffolk police closed a portion of Express Drive North for around two hours following the crash. The roadway had reopened by 2:15 p.m., a police spokesperson told Newsday via email.

Detectives with the Suffolk County Police Department's Fourth Squad based in Smithtown ask anyone with information regarding the crash to call 631-854-8452.