Walmart truck driver arrested for leaving scene of multivehicle crash in North Bellmore, cops say

A Walmart tractor trailer driver who police said caused an eight-vehicle crash that injured six people, two of them children, and shut down Newbridge Road for almost six hours Thursday in North Bellmore, has been arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

Nassau County police said Maxwell Taylor, 56, of upstate Amsterdam, was charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an incident and was released on an appearance ticket returnable for arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead on June 14.

It was not immediately clear if he is represented by counsel.

Police said Taylor was driving a Freightliner tractor trailer for Walmart about 6:45 a.m. southbound on Newbridge Road near Falcon Street in East Meadow on Thursday when his sideview mirror struck a school minibus occupied by 18 students.

But, police said, instead of stopping at the scene, Taylor continued, colliding with seven additional vehicles on Newbridge Road, south of Jerusalem Avenue in North Bellmore, sending one crashing into a utility pole, before his truck overturned into a Stop & Shop supermarket parking lot.

Police said a 16-year-old student on the bus suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Four adults and two children in the seven vehicles hit in the crash caused after Taylor fled the first incident were transported to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, police said.

Taylor suffered minor injuries and also was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Video taken at the second crash scene showed the minibus parked in the Stop & Shop lot with minor damage to its driver's side rear panel, while several other sport utility vehicles on Newbridge Road showed damage from the crash — some of it extensive. Firefighters from North Bellmore and EMS responded to the scene, as did a crew from the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office of Hazardous Materials Division.

Police said the investigation into the incident and the resulting cleanup operation caused Newbridge Road to be closed from Jerusalem Avenue to Waring Street. It was reopened shortly after noon.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”