Michael Rampanelli, 21, of Syosset, killed in wrong-way motorcycle crash in Oyster Bay Cove, police say

A 21-year-old motorcyclist died Sunday afternoon after he collided with a car in Oyster Bay Cove, Nassau County police said.

Police identified the victim as Michael Rampanelli, of Syosset.

“He always had his helmet on,” said Marianne Bencivenni Mauro of Plainview, whose four sons were his “best friends.” “But unfortunately,” she added, motorcycles are “not safe.”

“I used to yell at him all the time, the way his parents did as well, everybody yelled at him, telling him it wasn’t safe,” Bencivenni Mauro recalled Monday evening. “He used to say ‘I don’t care, I love it.’”

Bencivenni Mauro believes Rampanelli was out for a leisurely Sunday ride “because it was beautiful out” and “he felt free on his bike” when Nassau County police said the fatal crash occurred at around 3:40 p.m.

Authorities said the Syosset man was riding his red, 2022 Honda motorcycle south on Berry Hill Road near Northern Boulevard. According to detectives, he entered the northbound lanes while still traveling south and collided with a 2023 Kia Forte driven by a 62-year-old man. Rampanelli suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The driver of the Kia remained at the scene and no other injuries were reported. A police investigation was ongoing.

“My kids fell in love with him, we all did, it was hard not to,” Bencivenni Mauro recalled of first meeting Rampanelli. “He was an absolute great kid … life of the party, smile on his face all the time, funny as all hell, great dancer, great DJ.”

After graduating Syosset High School, where he was “an unbelievable wrestler” in 2021, Bencivenni Mauro said Rampanelli became an apprentice to a licensed electrician.She said he and her sons were supposed to attend a Yankees game together, but “they haven’t left Mikey’s house since yesterday. Everybody’s grieving real hard.”