Bellport brewery owner dies in crash after medical episode, police say
Brian Baker, owner of Bellport Brewing Co., in the brew house at the Bellport site in 2021. Baker died in a car crash Tuesday, police said. Credit: Randee Daddona
A Moriches man died after suffering a medical emergency while driving and hitting a tree Tuesday afternoon in Mastic Beach, Suffolk County police said.
Brian Baker, the sole fatality in the crash, was the owner of the Bellport Brewing Co., according to the facility's manager.
Police said Baker was driving a 2022 Hyundai, heading north on Mastic Road near Blanco Drive, when he experienced a medical event about 2:20 p.m. and lost control of his car.
The car veered across the opposite, southbound lanes and hit a tree and a utility pole. Baker, 43, was declared dead at the scene by Mastic Beach Ambulance paramedics, police said.
A 16-year-old girl who was in the car was treated for minor injuries from the crash.
A woman who answered the phone at the Bellport Brewing Co. Wednesday afternoon, and who identified herself as a manager, said the facility will remain open although brewery events in the coming days could be canceled or rescheduled.
Baker opened Bellport Brewing in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, after working on several iterations of the business, according to the brewery website.
He started as a home-brewer and member of Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiast club.
In its first few years of operation, Bellport Brewing distributed its product only from Montauk to Manhattan before eventually expanding to upstate, the website said.
In 2018, Baker opened Sunrise Ales & Lagers, his first brick and mortar location, in a strip mall in Bohemia but the brewery closed shortly thereafter following a fire at a store next door.
He would face another challenge after signing a lease for the current location on Station Road in Bellport just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brewery, which serves a selection of craft beers, local wines and spirits, finally opened its doors on Dec. 2, 2020.
The Hyundai was impounded for a safety inspection. Police ask anyone with information to call 631-852-8752.
With Marie Elena Martinez and Robert Brodsky
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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