Cops: Driver charged with DWI after hitting, killing motorcyclist
Sabelo Ndala, 22, of Port Jefferson Station, was arrested Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, and charged with driving while under the influence of drugs in the fatal collision with a motorcycle in Coram, Suffolk County police said. Credit: SCPD
A Port Jefferson Station man was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs after crashing into and killing a motorcyclist Saturday afternoon in Coram, Suffolk County police said.
Police said Sabelo Ndala, 22, who was impaired by marijuana as he drove a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta south on Old Town Road, struck a motorcyclist shortly before 2 p.m. at Old Town Road and Hyson Way in Coram.
Heissen Buttel, 56, of South Setauket was driving his 1972 Harley-Davidson north on Old Town Road when Ndala's Jetta tried to turn left on Hyson Way and hit the motorcycle, police said.
Buttel was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he died from his injuries, police said.
Ndala, who was not hurt, was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, operating a motor vehicle without an interlock device, and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Ndala had to use the interlock device because he has a previous DWI conviction, police said.
Ndala is set to be arraigned Sunday morning at First District Court in Central Islip.
Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks. Detectives are asking any witnesses to the crash to call the Vehicular Crime Unit at 631-852-6555.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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