John Cowans Jr. identified as passenger killed in taxicab crash, police say
Rescuers at scene of a one-car crash Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014, in Holtsville. Suffolk County police said a taxicab overturned. The crash Nichols Road in both directions, police said. Credit: Christopher Sabella
Police have identified the taxicab passenger killed in a two-car crash Sunday in Holtsville as John Cowans Jr., 55, of Huntington Station.
Suffolk County police identified the taxi driver as Robert Woodland, 31, of East Setauket. The driver of the Jeep involved in the collision with the cab on Nicolls Road also was identified Monday. Police said the driver was Julie Benischek, 49, of Levittown.
Police said the taxi and a 2014 Jeep were traveling south on Nicolls alongside each other when they collided near Express Drive South. Both vehicles then "drove off the road and into the center median," authorities said, the cab overturning -- and ejecting the passenger, Cowans.
Cowans was brought to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he died.
The crash occurred near Portion Road just before noon.
Police said the cab driver also was taken to the Stony Brook hospital, where he was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.
The driver of the Jeep was not injured, police said.
Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks.
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John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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