Commack crash that killed jogger not considered criminal, police say

A crash that killed a Commack woman and injured her two younger brothers as the three siblings were out on a jog Thursday morning is not considered criminal, Suffolk County police said.

Neighbors in the tight-knit community mourned Friday the loss of Ilona Kaydanov, 22, a student at Stony Brook University, while decrying the accident site on Harned Road as "dangerous" for pedestrians.

A family member told Newsday that Dennis Kaydanov, 20, and Joseph Kaydanov, 13, the victim's two brothers, are recovering at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip from injuries they suffered in the crash. Joseph broke his leg and his clavicle while Dennis' injuries were less severe, their grandmother, Lubov Kaydanov, said Thursday.

The three siblings were jogging single file on the northbound Harned Road shoulder, near Donna Court, when they were struck by a minivan at 8:23 a.m., police said.

IIona Kaydanov was taken by ambulance to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where she was pronounced dead.

The minivan driver, who had two passengers, ages 44 and 64, remained at the scene, the release said. She was not ticketed or charged.

Suffolk police said while the crash remains under investigation it's not considered criminal.

Ilona Laydanov’s mother declined to talk to a Newsday reporter on Friday.

Some residents said the stretch of Harned Road, on a bend where drivers speed above the posted 30 mph speed limit and where pedestrians are separated from motorists by a solid white line without a sidewalk, can be perilous.

"It is a dangerous road," said Diane LaMontanaro, 60, one of Kaydanov's neighbors.

Two neighbors on Donna Court, near the crash scene, would like sidewalks added to the road as well as additional safety measures to address concerns about speeding. The shoulder of Harned Road is about 2.5 feet wide.

"It is definitely a problem," Greg Verdino said of Harned Road. "It's really strange to me that we are so close to the schools and there are no sidewalks. It's definitely precarious."

Fareed Ahmed, 46, who has two kids, 16 and 14, said the bend in the road is "terrible."

Spokespeople for the towns of Huntington and Smithtown, who each share a slice of Commack, did not respond to a request for comment.

IIona Kaydanov was a Hauppauge High School graduate who worked in marketing for Contract Pharmacal in Hauppauge and previously served as a swimming instructor and in public relations for the tourism agency Discover Long Island. Family members said she was also a ballroom dancer who played violin, sang and ran daily.

"It's tragic," said Sheila Finkel, 78, who lives across the street from the Kaydanovs. "I just feel terrible for the parents. I have grandchildren in their 20s who live here and I don't know how those poor parents will cope."