LIE crash closes eastbound lanes at Exit 61 in Holbrook for close to 5 hours, police say

A Port Jefferson Station man was charged with DWI after he and one of his passengers were seriously injured in a crash on the Long Island Expressway early Saturday morning in Holbrook, which shut down eastbound lanes for about five hours, Suffolk County Police said.

Walter Maybanks, 36, was driving a 2014 Infiniti eastbound on the Long Island Expressway, east of Exit 61, when his vehicle struck the rear of a tractor trailer and the center median at about 3:30 a.m., police said

Maybanks and one of his passengers, Erica Sime, 26, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. A 32-year-old male passenger in the vehicle was not hurt. The driver of the tractor trailer, James Hoerauf, 59, was not injured.

The roadway reopened at 8:15 a.m., police said.

Maybanks was charged with DWI and will be arraigned on a later date.

The Infiniti was impounded for a safety check and the investigation is continuing. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.