Motorcyclist William Sarubbi's death in Manorville crash adds to fatal toll

A Riverhead man riding a motorcycle late Monday afternoon on the Long Island Expressway in Manorville was killed when the bike crashed into the back of a pickup truck, Suffolk County police said.

The crash was at least the fourth since September on Long Island involving a motorcycle that killed either the operator or a passenger.

At 5:46 p.m. Monday, William Sarubbi, 37, was heading east on the LIE while operating a 2014 Suzuki when he hit the back of a 2024 Ford F250 pickup just east of Exit 68, according to a Suffolk County police news release. Sarubbi was ejected from the motorcycle before a 2022 Mitsubishi swerved to avoid him and hit the bike, police said.

An ambulance transported Sarubbi to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead where he was pronounced dead.

The drivers of the Ford and the Mitsubishi both escaped injury, according to police.

Additional details, including the speed of the vehicles at the time or the circumstances leading up to the crash, were not released.

Police impounded the three vehicles for safety checks and anyone with information should call Seventh Squad detectives at 631-852-8752.

Monday's fatal crash was the latest on Long Island involving a motorcyclist and followed several others within the past two months. A Queens motorcyclist, Richard Sorrentino, 34, was pronounced dead Nov. 8 from injuries suffered Oct. 12 after he struck a bicyclist attempting to cross Sunrise Highway in Bellmore.

On Oct. 21, a Medford man was charged with driving while intoxicated following a crash on the LIE in Islandia that killed motorcyclist Idris Shehu, 20, of Hicksville.

The day before, a motorcycle crash on the LIE in Yaphank claimed the life of Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Dawn M. Jimenez, a passenger on a 2007 Harley-Davidson whose operator was treated at a hospital for serious injuries.

On Sept. 16, Michael Rampanelli, 21, of Syosset, died after the 2022 Honda motorcycle he was operating the wrong way on Berry Hill Road in Oyster Bay Cove collided with a car.

In July, Newsday reported a surge in deadly motorcycle crashes on Long Island. At least 12 people were killed in crashes in May and June. For the same time period in 2023, at least six people died in motorcycle crashes, according to a Newsday analysis.

The spike in fatalities was also a state and nationwide trend, according to Newsday's July article, with preliminary statistics revealing a nearly   12% jump in New York from 2022 to 2023.

Factors linked to the crashes included loss of control, speeding and vehicles making a left turn in front of an oncoming motorcycle, police said.

More coverage: Long Island traffic crashes claimed 243 lives in 2022, 29% more than in 2019, Newsday has reported. The level was the highest since 2015, as dangerous driving increased post-COVID-19 and police traffic enforcement dropped, according to a Newsday analysis of crash and ticketing data and traffic experts.