Privacy update — September 18, 2026: Identifying details have been removed under our victim privacy policy.
What Happened
A 26-year-old man from Selden died early Tuesday morning, September 9, 2026, after his 2018 Chevrolet Express left Express Drive South near Maple Avenue in Holbrook, struck a tree, and overturned, according to police. The crash happened around 3:10 a.m.
No one called 911 for more than two hours. A good Samaritan reported the crash at 5:28 a.m., per Patch. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver was traveling eastbound at the time of the crash, police said. The vehicle left the roadway, hit a tree, and overturned. Police impounded the vehicle for a safety check. Patch issued a correction Wednesday noting that an earlier version of the article had incorrectly identified the driver as a motorcyclist.
His aunt wrote about the loss on a GoFundMe page. “We never imagined we would be writing something like this, and honestly, we still don’t know how to put any of this into words,” she wrote. “This morning, he tragically lost his life in a car accident at only 26 years old. Our hearts are completely broken.”
She described him as “a deeply loved son, family member, and friend.” She wrote that the family was trying “to process a loss that no family should ever have to face” and that the fundraiser was created to help cover service costs. “Along with the overwhelming grief comes the unexpected cost of giving him the services and goodbye he deserves,” she wrote. As of Wednesday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than $12,000, according to Patch.
“He was only 26. He should have had more birthdays, more memories, more laughs, and so much more life ahead of him,” his aunt wrote.
Location & Road Context
Express Drive South runs through Holbrook in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County. The stretch near Maple Avenue is a commercial and mixed-use corridor. Holbrook sits between the Sunrise Highway corridor to the south and the Long Island Expressway to the north, and Express Drive South connects those arterials through a section with moderate overnight traffic.
For more on crashes in Holbrook and surrounding Islip Town roads, see Long Island Traffic’s town coverage.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Suffolk County detectives are investigating the crash and asking anyone with information to contact them at 631-854-8652, according to Patch. No charges had been announced as of Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check, police said. No cause of the crash had been publicly released.