State AG's office investigating crash that killed former high school football player after 'encounter' with Nassau police

The state attorney general’s office is investigating the circumstances of the death of a 19-year-old former high school football player who had an “encounter” with Nassau police before he died in a three-car crash in Lynbrook, the attorney general's office said Friday.

Nasir Reid, of Lynbrook, died Tuesday after the car he was driving collided with two vehicles. Nassau County Police Department spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun has said Reid was “involved in a police encounter with Nassau Police" before the crash, but Friday declined to comment further on the details of the encounter, including whether police were pursuing Reid’s vehicle before the crash.

“The Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is conducting a preliminary assessment of the matter pursuant to New York Executive Law Section 70-B,” the office of State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Friday.

Section 70-B authorizes the attorney general to investigate every incident where a police officer may have caused the death of a civilian “by an act or omission.” The preliminary assessment is the first stage in the process to establish whether there is reason to believe that the officer’s actions or potential negligence led to a civilian’s death. If the assessment indicates an officer caused the death, the Office of Special Investigation will launch a full investigation.

Nassau police released details of Tuesday’s 12:03 a.m. fatal crash in a new release later that day. Police said a 2009 BMW, which was driven by Reid, was southbound on Ocean Avenue when it collided with a Nissan Pathfinder that was traveling northeast at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Peninsula Boulevard. The BMW then struck a 2019 Dodge Ram pickup truck that was stopped at a traffic light, police said.

Reid, who police said “sustained extensive internal injuries,” was pronounced dead at a hospital at 1:25 a.m. The passengers in the other vehicles were treated and released for minor injuries, police said.

Reid’s family could not be reached for comment Friday.

Reid was a lineman for Roosevelt High School’s football team and was a key member of both the offensive and defensive lines in 2019, his then-coach Joe Vito has said.

The probe is the second time in a little more than a week that the James' office has launched a probe into the Nassau County Police Department under 70-B. The AG’s office said in a Nov. 23 statement that it opened an investigation into the death of Uniondale pedestrian Miguel Romero, 47, who was fatally struck by a Nassau County police car on Nov. 19.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.