Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A North Patchogue intersection turned fatal late Thursday night when a passenger was killed after the car he was riding in was struck by an oncoming pickup truck while making a left turn, according to Newsday.
At approximately 10:10 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, 2026, the driver of a 2023 Kia Forte was traveling southbound on Waverly Avenue and attempted to make a left turn onto Buckley Road, Newsday reports, citing Suffolk County police. As the Kia completed the turn, it was struck by a 2016 Dodge Ram traveling northbound on Waverly Avenue. The collision set off a chain of consequences that would claim the life of the Kia’s sole passenger.
That passenger was Hilton Spokony, 45, a resident of East Patchogue. Emergency responders transported Spokony to NYU Langone Hospital Suffolk, located in Patchogue, where he was subsequently pronounced dead, police said. Spokony was the only passenger in the Kia at the time of the collision, according to Newsday.
The driver of the Kia Forte was a 79-year-old woman whom Suffolk County police identified as Spokony’s mother-in-law. She was removed from the scene and transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was treated for injuries that police described as non-life-threatening. The driver of the 2016 Dodge Ram — a 55-year-old man — was also taken to Stony Brook University Hospital. His injuries were characterized by police as minor.
Suffolk County police impounded both vehicles following the crash. The impoundments are standard procedure and were ordered for the purpose of safety checks, authorities said. No charges had been announced as of the initial report published Friday morning by Newsday.
The crash was reported by Newsday journalist Maureen Mullarkey, who covers breaking news and general assignment stories for the outlet and previously covered Long Island for Patch. Her report, updated at 7:00 a.m. on June 12, 2026, included the confirmation from Suffolk County police of Spokony’s identity, age, and hometown, as well as the relationship between the Kia driver and the deceased passenger.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred at the intersection of Waverly Avenue and Buckley Road in North Patchogue, a residential community in the Town of Brookhaven in central Suffolk County. Waverly Avenue is a two-way local road that serves as a connector through this part of North Patchogue, carrying both local residential traffic and drivers accessing nearby commercial corridors. The intersection with Buckley Road is an uncontrolled or stop-controlled junction — the type of left-turn scenario that routinely produces conflict points between southbound drivers making turns and northbound through-traffic traveling at speed. North Patchogue sits just north of the hamlet of Patchogue, where NYU Langone Hospital Suffolk — one of the receiving facilities for victims of this crash — is located.
The Patchogue and East Patchogue area has seen a number of serious traffic incidents in recent months. In late May 2026, eight people were arrested in a pre-Memorial Day weekend DWI crackdown in Patchogue, and a motorcyclist was seriously hurt in a separate Patchogue crash just days earlier. The state Department of Transportation also announced overnight road closures on Sunrise Highway in East Patchogue beginning in early June, reflecting ongoing infrastructure attention throughout the broader Patchogue corridor.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
As of Friday morning, Suffolk County police had not announced any arrests or charges in connection with the fatal collision. The investigation into the crash remains active, and both the 2023 Kia Forte and the 2016 Dodge Ram were impounded for safety inspections — a standard step in fatal crash investigations that allows authorities to examine the mechanical condition of each vehicle and rule out equipment failure as a contributing factor.
Suffolk County’s Homicide Squad typically handles the investigation of fatal motor vehicle crashes in the county. Whether the cause of the collision — a left turn across oncoming traffic — may give rise to any traffic infractions or criminal charges has not yet been determined publicly. Newsday reported no additional details on charges as of its most recent update.
Broader Impact
Left-turn crashes — in which a turning driver fails to yield to oncoming traffic — are among the most deadly collision types at uncontrolled intersections on Long Island. A Newsday investigation found that on average a traffic crash causing death, injury, or significant property damage occurs on Long Island every seven minutes, and more than 2,100 people were killed in traffic crashes across the island between 2014 and 2023, with more than 16,000 seriously injured in that same period. The fatal collision at Waverly Avenue and Buckley Road adds to that toll just days after a driver pleaded guilty in a separate fatal crash in Suffolk County and another case in which an underage DWI driver admitted to killing a police officer — a somber week on Suffolk County roads.