Police Identify Truck Driver Killed in Calverton Crash

The truck driver who died in a on Tuesday has been identified as David Skelton, 64, according to Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller on Saturday evening.

Hegermiller did not immediately identify where Skelton had lived.

According to Riverhead Town Police Lieutenant David Lessard, Skelton was driving in a 2011 Mack trailer carrying sand and heading northbound on Edwards Avenue when the vehicle went out of control and crossed into the southbound lane, sideswiping a 2008 Subaru.

The driver of the Subaru, Joseph Reilly, Jr. of Maplewood, New Jersey, was unhurt in the other vehicle.

The tractor trailer continued northbound, crashed into a large tree on the east shoulder of the road, and burst into flames.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Positive identification was confirmed by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office before Skelton's name was released.

"The operator of the tractor trailer is a fatality," Lessard said.

A safety inspection of the tractor trailer will be done; the investigation will continue and be handled by Riverhead Town detectives.

Edwards Avenue was closed by the accident and police were diverting traffic.

Calverton resident Hal Lindstrom said he was driving southbound on Edwards Avenue when he saw the flames from about a quarter mile away. "At first I thought it was a brush fire but then I saw flames coming out. It was buring at full blast. It was completely in flames," he said.

Also on the scene were the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corp, Riverhead Fire Marshall's Office, the Riverhead Highway Department, the Suffolk County Motor Carrier and Aviation Units, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The accident occurred near the Miller Environmental Group offices in Calverton, police said. 

The Subaru was impounded pending a safety inspection.