Ilona Kaydanov killed while jogging with 2 brothers in Commack when struck by driver, police say

A woman out jogging with her younger brothers was killed Thursday morning after a driver in a minivan hit them on the shoulder of a Commack road, according to Suffolk County police.

The siblings — Ilona Kaydanov, 22, Dennis Kaydanov, 20, and Joseph Kaydanov, 13, all of Commack — were jogging single file on the northbound Harned Road shoulder when they were struck, the police said in a news release.

IIona Kaydanov was taken by ambulance to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where she was pronounced dead, the release said. She was at least the 26th person on Long Island to die in August as the result of a vehicle crash — including people on foot, behind the wheel, in a passenger seat, while cycling or while jogging.

Both brothers were taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where they were expected to recover from their injuries.

A solid white line on the road separates the shoulder from the vehicle travel lane. There is no sidewalk. 

The minivan driver, who had two passengers, ages 44 and 64, remained at the scene, the release said. She was not ticketed or otherwise charged. The department would not explain the basis for that conclusion. An ongoing police investigation is looking into questions such as what caused the crash and how fast the driver was going, the department said. 

A Newsday analysis in 2021 found that Long Island roads are among New York State's deadliest to walk and bike, but few drivers involved in crashes that kill pedestrians and bicyclists face criminal charges. 

There were 74,683 crashes on Long Island in 2022 — 35,748 in Suffolk and 38,935 in Nassau, according to preliminary statistics maintained by the Institute for the University at Albany-based Traffic Safety Management & Research. In those crashes, 154 were killed and 13,533 injured in Suffolk and 80 were killed and 14,514 injured in Nassau.

Thursday's crash occurred about 8:23 a.m. on Harned Road near Donna Court, according to the release.

The siblings' grandmother, Lubov Kaydanov, said in an interview that she kissed her three grandchildren goodbye just after 8 a.m. before their regular morning run through the neighborhood.

"All of them kiss me and then run and say 'bye,' " Kaydanov recalled Thursday afternoon. About a half hour later came the news about the crash.

Ilona Kaydanov was about two weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, a student at Stony Brook University and an alumna of Hauppauge High School, said her grandmother, who had come to Commack earlier Thursday from Brooklyn to visit the grandchildren. Kaydanov formerly worked in marketing for Contract Pharmacal in Hauppauge and prior to that, in public relations for the tourism agency, Discover Long Island.

“I’m old and I ask God, 'why you not take me?'” Lubov Kaydanov said. “ 'You take her and she had a big life to live' ... She was a good and kind girl to everybody.”

Kaydanov said Joseph broke his leg and his clavicle in the crash. Dennis Kaydanov's injuries were less severe, she said.

Her granddaughter was a ballroom dancer, played violin, sang and ran every day.

“She was a good and kind person. She had a good voice,” she said. “Every day. They run every day, I don’t know where … all time running, she’s very good.”

Stephanie Falciano, owner of the Syosset dance studio Dance with Us, where Ilona Kaydanov taught, said Ilona and Dennis were students there “since they were little." With Kaydanov's death, "the world loses an incredible soul," Falciano said.

"She changed the hearts of everyone that met her," Falciano said. "The ones that had a chance to dance with her were extra lucky."

On the studio's website, Kaydanov is listed as "Wedding Dance Coordinator" and described as someone who "thrives on being an active and disciplined student and teacher." The website lists Dennis Kaydanov as "Children's Party Coordinator" and a teacher's assistant who started ballroom dancing when he was 6.

Stacy Renart, 44, who lives across the street from where the crash occurred, heard sirens and said she saw a person being carried away on a stretcher.

Renart, who has two children, 4 and 16, said her children generally don't walk on the road. It's very busy.

"It gives me goosebumps and it's terrible. It's definitely scary," she said.

Elliot Olshansky said Ilona Kaydanov taught both his sons, ages 5 and 9, swimming lessons, starting before the pandemic at the Suffolk YJCC in Commack.

She continued to come to their house to teach swimming during the pandemic and returned to giving lessons every Saturday at the YJCC, Olshansky said.

He hadn’t told his sons yet Thursday that she had died.

“It’s so crazy that the last time we saw her Saturday will be the last time we’ll ever see her,” Olshansky said. “She was so warm and patient with my kids. We’re really going to miss her. She was much more than a swim teacher to us.”

With Macy Egeland and Michael O'Keeffe