L.I. HORROR
5 killed in crash of stolen car, 3 other vehicles
FIVE PEOPLE were killed Wednesday in a fiery crash involving a stolen car and three other vehicles on Long Island, authorities said.
The deadly pileup, caused by a motorist trying to ditch police in the stolen 2018 Chevy Camaro, occurred on Route 25 near Woodlot Road in Ridge, Suffolk County, about 11:20 a.m., police said.
Four people died inside a mangled Mazda that burst into flames. A fifth victim died in the wrecked Camaro.
An oil truck and a third car were also hit in the crash. Authorities said both drivers in those vehicles were expected to survive.
Several hours after the accident, the anguished mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of victim Londell Skinner, 19, of Bellport, arrived. They were stopped from getting near the Camaro, where the teen’s body remained.
“Take me to my f---ing son!” the mom screamed after she ran past police tape and was grabbed by officers who tried to console her. “No, no, no, no, no! That’s my son, that’s my son!”
The three women wailed in grief after being told Skinner had died.
The Camaro was stolen Tuesday, authorities said. A second person in the wrecked car, Jamel Turner, 23, was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
“We just got here. We don’t know anything. We don’t know if he was the driver or the passenger, but he was in the Camaro,” sobbed Retha Williams, Skinner’s great-grandmother.
Skinner, it turned out, was the passenger, cops said, while Turner was behind the wheel.
Police have charged Turner with criminal possession of stolen property and false personation, and expect to hit him with additional charges. He was also arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Suffolk County Police Chief of Department Stuart Cameron said police got a message from OnStar about 11:15 a.m. on the Camaro’s location.
Cops found the car at an apartment complex about a mile from the crash site. The driver sped over grass and headed east on Route 25.
“The car departed the Lakepoint apartment complex at a high rate of speed,” Cameron said. “We had a Suffolk County police unit behind it, and when the vehicle was going eastbound on 25, it passed another one of our cars that was westbound on 25.”
He said cops witnessed the crash. The Camaro hit the 2012 Mazda going east and the oil truck, which was going west. The Mazda hit a 1999 Infiniti. Cops apparently were not in full chase mode.
“At this point, all indications are that it was not police pursuit,” Cameron said.
Two patrol cars were behind the Camaro, but he would not specify if they were following the car. He said only that they were “some distance” behind it.