Cops: Arrests, serious injuries after 4 Suffolk crashes

Four crashes, including three involving pedestrians, led to serious injuries and two arrests in Suffolk County Saturday night and Sunday morning, officials reported.

Jose Mondragon Diaz, 20, of Brentwood was charged with DWI after crashing a 2013 Audi on Jericho Turnpike in Smithtown about 4 a.m. Sunday, Suffolk Police said. The Smithtown Fire Department reported treating Diaz and a passenger for injuries at the scene. They said both occupants were trapped in the vehicle after it rolled over in an area west of the Route 25A intersection.

Bianco Spano, 29, of Quogue, was charged with second-degree vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated by alcohol and drugs after she struck an unnamed pedestrian in Quogue Village shortly after midnight, village police said. Spano was traveling east near the intersection of Quogue Street and Quogo Neck Lane around 12:05 a.m. when her vehicle hit the pedestrian, causing serious physical injury, police said. She is expected to be arraigned in Quogue Village Court Sunday.

Two earlier unrelated pedestrian crashes in western Suffolk did not result in criminal charges Saturday night, Suffolk Police said.

A man crossing the roadway on West Suffolk Avenue in Central Islip was struck at about 8:45 p.m. by a 2017 Toyota Tacoma that was headed westbound. The pedestrian, who police have not yet identified, was critically injured in the crash and is being treated at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, police said. The driver, Neftali Rodrigues, 40, of Central Islip was not injured.

Third Precinct Police also responded to a pedestrian crash about 9:35 p.m. when a man walked into the roadway of Suffolk Avenue just east of Wicks Road and was struck by a 2006 Honda Accord. The pedestrian, identified as Daniel Vargas, 50, who has no known address, suffered serious injuries and was also transported to South Shore University Hospital.

The driver of the Honda, Delores Sanchez Aguilar, 65, of Central Islip, was not injured.

Third Squad detectives asked anyone with information about either crash to call 631-854-8352.


By Grant Parpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.