A driver was killed and three others were injured in Southampton on Wednesday, after the driver’s van sideswiped three cars in the opposite lane of traffic and collided with a fourth car head-on, Southampton Town police said.
Police received a 911 call about 3:16 p.m. Wednesday about a motor vehicle crash involving multiple vehicles on County Road 39 near Saint Andrews Road, police said.
An investigation determined an eastbound white 2014 GMC van driven by Anasser Almontaser, 33, of Staten Island, was traveling on CR 39 when the van crossed into the westbound lane and sideswiped a westbound 2019 Volkswagen SUV. The impact was so great that it dislodged the Volkswagen’s rear driver’s side tire, causing it to spin around in the roadway, police said.
The GMC van then sideswiped a 2017 maroon Toyota pickup carrying various construction items, which were ejected from the bed of the truck and landed on CR39.
The truck suffered what police described as “catastrophic damage.”
The GMC then sideswiped a third vehicle, a 2018 International Flat Bad tow truck, before colliding head-on with a westbound 2022 white Dodge Ram pickup truck.
The collisions caused debris to scatter over 600 feet and left four vehicles “essentially totaled” across all lanes of CR39, police said.
Almontaser was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Three people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police closed the westbound lanes of CR39 at Tuckahoe Road and eastbound traffic at Shrubland Road from the time of the accident. They reopened the roads to traffic around 7:32 p.m.
Maureen Mullarkey is a breaking news reporter at Newsday. She previously worked as a reporter for Patch, where she covered a range of Long Island stories on topics such as the Diocese of Rockville Centre bankruptcy and the Babylon School District abuse scandals.