Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Police Identify Pedestrian Who Died After Being Struck By Two Cars

The initial driver who hit him fled the East Main Street scene, police said.

Update: 10:56 p.m. Riverhead police have identified the man who died on Friday after being struck by a car on East Main Street as Scott Wayte, 50, of Brookhaven.

According to police, upon responding to a call regarding a motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian at East Main Street and Union Avenue at 5:40 p.m. on Friday, they arrived to find a male pedestrian pinned beneath a Honda Pilot SUV.

The victim, identified as Wayte, was pronounced dead at the scene by a responding paramedic with the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corp.

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According to an investigation conducted at the scene and witness accounts, Wayte was attempting to cross East Main Street from north to south when he was struck by an unknown westbound vehicle and sent into the eastbound lane, where he was struck by a second vehicle, a 2006 Honda Pilot, operated by Ernest Austin, 53, of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania.

Police said Austin continued driving eastbound for a short distance before stopping after he realized he had struck someone. Austin was not charged in relation to the accident; police are trying to locate the first vehicle that struck Wayte and fled the scene.

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Anyone who witnessed the accident or may have information about the vehicle should call Riverhead Police Detective Division at 631-727-4500 ext. 289.

Update: 7:15 p.m.: A pedestrian has died after being struck by a car on East Main Street in Riverhead, police have confirmed.

Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller confirmed that the accident, which took place in front of the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center on East Main Street, resulted in the pedestrian's death. No further information was immediately available.

Detective Michael Schmidt, at the scene, also said that the accident, which involved a vehicle versus a pedestrian, resulted in a fatality.

East Main Street was closed from Maple Avenue to Ostrander Avenue during the investigation.

Original story: Riverhead police reported an accident on Friday on East Main Street involving a car that reportedly hit a pedestrian.

According to Riverhead police, the call came in at 5:30 p.m. about an accident involving a car and a pedestrian at the intersection of East Main Street and Union Avenue.

Police are on the scene; it is not immediately clear if the pedestrian was injured, or how badly.

Check back to Riverhead Patch for more details as they become available.


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