Southampton crash involving 5 vehicles leaves 1 dead, police say

A driver was killed and three people were injured in Southampton on Wednesday after the driver's van sideswiped three cars in the opposite lane and collided with a fourth head-on, police said.

Southampton Town Police received a 911 call about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday about a crash involving multiple vehicles on County Road 39 near Saint Andrews Road.

An eastbound 2014 GMC van driven by Anasser Almontaser, 33, of Staten Island, was traveling on County Road 39 when the van crossed into the westbound lane and sideswiped a 2019 Volkswagen SUV, police said. The impact was so great that it dislodged the Volkswagen’s rear driver’s side tire, causing it to spin around in the roadway, police said.

The van then sideswiped a 2017 Toyota pickup carrying construction items, which were ejected from the bed and landed in the road. The truck suffered what police described as "catastrophic damage."

The GMC then sideswiped a third vehicle, a 2018 International flatbed tow truck, before colliding head-on with a westbound 2022 Dodge Ram pickup truck.

The collisions scattered debris over 600 feet and left four vehicles "essentially totaled" across all lanes of County Road 39, police said.

Almontaser was pronounced dead at the scene. Three people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police closed the westbound lanes of County Road 39 at Tuckahoe Road and eastbound traffic at Shrubland Road, reopening them around 7:30 p.m. .