Driver charged with DWI in serious Long Island Expressway crash, Suffolk police say

A Medford man was charged with driving while intoxicated in connection with an early-morning crash that closed the westbound Long Island Expressway for hours at Exit 57 in Hauppauge on Friday, police said.

The man, Nolan Grant, 57, and the driver of another vehicle were seriously injured in the crash, according to a Suffolk police release.

Police said the crash occurred at 2:04 a.m. in the westbound LIE lanes, when Grant's 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee collided with a 2002 Mercedes Benz driven by James Todarello, 72, of Coram.

Both vehicles flipped in the crash. The Jeep traveled over a guardrail and up an embankment before coming to a stop on the shoulder, police said.

Todarello was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Grant was taken to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of serious injuries, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned at a later date.

Anyone with information on this crash is asked to call the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

New York State's traffic and information site, 511, showed lingering slowdowns in the area by 8:30 a.m. Earlier, a traffic camera at Exit 57 had showed hundreds of vehicles backed up behind what appeared to be a line of highway maintenance trucks.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

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