Cops: Driver impaired in Manorville crash with tanker truck

A crash Wednesday afternoon involving a motorist allegedly impaired by drugs and a tanker truck left both drivers hospitalized with injuries and shut down part of the Long Island Expressway in Manorville for several hours, Suffolk County police said.

At around 1:21 p.m. Wednesday, Austin Richuitti, 19, of Bellport, was driving a 2011 Cadillac west on the LIE near Exit 69, Wading River Road, at “a high rate of speed,” police said Wednesday evening. Richuitti’s vehicle then hit the rear of a 2010 International oil truck causing it to overturn into a wooded area, according to police.

Both Richuitti and the operator of the tanker truck were transported by Suffolk police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital in stable condition, police said.

Richuitti was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, second-degree reckless endangerment and reckless driving, police said, adding that they impounded the Cadillac for a safety check.

A woman who answered the phone for Jarzombek Energy in Riverhead, the heating oil company listed on the overturned tanker, said the company had no comment about the crash.

About 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, all westbound lanes at Exit 69 remained closed, while eastbound lanes were open. There was no estimate from police for when the expressway would fully reopen.

With John Asbury and John Valenti