Driver in East Massapequa crash that killed father and two kids was speeding, high on drugs, police say

A driver was speeding 120 mph one second before rear-ending a vehicle carrying a family on a trip to get ice cream Sunday, killing a father and two of his children inside, the police said Friday in announcing the driver's arrest.

The driver, Michael Deangelo, 32, of Lindenhurst, had cocaine and fentanyl in his system at the time of the crash, according to Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, the Nassau County Police supervisor overseeing the investigation.

Deangelo was arrested Friday morning at a hospital — where he is being treated for a compound fracture of the leg and internal injuries — and charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, assault, driving while impaired and reckless driving, according to Fitzpatrick. 

“We’ve discovered that he was driving under the influence of narcotics and controlled substances,” he said. “We’ve also determined that he was traveling one second prior to the collision at over 100 miles per hour, in fact, at 120.55 miles per hour.”

Deangelo was arraigned from his hospital bed Friday afternoon. He was ordered held on $500,000 cash or $1 million bond bail, or $5 million secured at 10%, according to county prosecutor spokesman Brendan Brosh. The case is due back in court Tuesday. Deangelo’s lawyer, Karl Seman, didn't return a message seeking comment.

A note taped to the door of Deangelo's  Lindenhurst home says: “Our family is deeply saddened and our hearts, prayers and sympathies go out to the families and all those who are suffering so greatly at this time.”

The crash for which Deangelo is charged occurred at about 7:20 p.m. Sunday on Sunrise Highway at Unqua Road. The Huntleys had been out to get ice cream to celebrate Patrice Huntley's new job, the police commissioner said Monday. The impact killed the father, Huntley, 60, of Flushing; and the two children, Jeremiah, 10, and Hannah, 13, of Uniondale. Huntley’s vehicle, a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe, had been stopped at a red light when rear-ended by a 2023 Hyundai Kona, allegedly driven by Deangelo. Two additional vehicles were also struck in the collision, according to a court charging document.

The other three relatives   in Huntley's vehicle were also injured. A 6-year-old girl suffered catastrophic injuries, including a severed spine, her grandmother said this week. Fitzpatrick said Friday that Deangelo could face additional charges if the girl doesn’t survive.

The 6-year-old, identified in the document as Chantel Solomon, is undergoing testing and scans to determine what brain activity she has, Fitzpatrick said. Brienna Peoples, 18, is also in extremely critical condition and undergoing multiple surgeries, he said. The other child in the vehicle, David Huntley, 14, was the least injured, Patrice Huntley's girlfriend told Newsday earlier this week.

In Deangelo's vehicle were needles and a pipe, the court document said. Det. Thomas Roche wrote in the document that he saw needle track marks on Deangelo's arms and hands at the hospital after the crash. 

"The defendant told Detective Roche that he uses heroin, GHB, suboxone, and other drugs, and admitted that he used drugs on the date of the collision," the document says. 

Police detectives spent the week serving search warrants, examining blood toxicology and speed in Deangelo's vehicle through its event-data recorder, known as a black box, Fitzpatrick said. Witnesses were interviewed and surveillance video watched.

Deangelo wasn't, contrary to initial reports, racing another driver at the time of the crash, Fitzpatrick said. Still, just before the crash, Deangelo's vehicle was seen speeding past the family's vehicle once, possibly faster than 100 mph, Fitzpatrick said, before Deangelo stopped at a nearby Speedway gas station. He re-entered the road after the family's vehicle had passed, driving 120.55 mph just prior to the crash, Fitzpatrick said.

“His behavior prior to the accident, his reckless driving, all contributed to what caused this accident and killing three people,” he said. 

Deangelo has at least one impaired-driving conviction from 2014, according to the document.

The speed limit on the roadway where the crash happened is 45 mph, according to Tracey Cabey of the Nassau police. Route 27 — called Sunrise Highway on that stretch — is the second-deadliest roadway on Long Island after Route 25, according to a 2022 Newsday analysis.

The Deangelo crash was one of four separate deadly collisions Sunday into Monday across Long Island.  Six people were killed, including the Huntleys in East Massapequa, a 72-year-old woman struck by a hit-and-run driver in Ronkonkoma, a 77-year-old bicyclist in Hicksville was struck by an SUV, and a 6-year-old girl who was struck by an alleged drunken driver in West Hempstead. Charges against that driver, Jorge Bonilla Gutierrez, 18, include manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, assault and driving while intoxicated. He has been hospitalized and  ordered jailed without bail once discharged.

The hit-and-run driver hasn’t been caught. The driver whose SUV struck the bicyclist wasn’t charged.