Westbound Long Island Expressway at Exit 49 reopens after serious crash, police say
A 22-year-old Queens man was seriously injured when the Jeep he was a passenger in rolled over on the westbound Long Island Expressway near Exit 48, Round Swamp Road, early Thursday, Suffolk County police said.
Police said the driver and another passenger, also both 22 and from Queens, suffered minor injuries.
The single-vehicle crash forced the closure of the westbound LIE at Exit 49, Route 110, in Melville, causing massive traffic delays through the area for several hours, police said.
The road was reopened just after 6:30 a.m., Suffolk County police said, though an unrelated crash has closed the on-ramp to the LIE at westbound Exit 48, police said.
Police said the rollover crash, which was reported at about 3:20 a.m., involved a 2020 Jeep Wrangler and said the seriously injured man, identified as Keith Tito of East Elmhurst, was ejected from the vehicle. Police said he was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow in serious but stable condition.
The other two men, identified by police as the driver, Alex Sahastume-Rivera of Jackson Heights and passenger Tristan Villafama of Corona, also were traken to NUMC for treatment of minor injuries. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check, police said.
According to the 511NY website, all westbound lanes of the LIE were closed through the area at 3:36 a.m. The northbound exit ramp to Route 110 also was closed at 4:42 a.m., according to the website, which monitors traffic and provides traffic camera footage.
The road remained closed through the area for about three hours due to crash investigation protocols and cleanup.
Investigators are asking anyone with information regarding the crash to contact Second Squad detectives at 631-854-8252.
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.”
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