Two men arrested following LIE crash, one person suffers serious injuries
A crash on the Long Island Expressway in Melville sent one person to the hospital with serious injuries and led to drug-related charges against two men.
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A crash on the Long Island Expressway in Melville Sunday morning sent one person to the hospital with serious injuries and shut down multiple lanes for several hours.
"It was a pretty nasty accident," said Melville resident Phil Sherman.
Police say 27-year-old Paven Bhat was driving in the HOV lane near Exit 50 around 6 a.m. when he struck the median.
Investigators say Bhat was inspecting the damage to his vehicle when he was struck by a car driven by 28-year-old Cristian Guevara.
"It seemed one of the cars had spun around by the divider and smashed into the divider," Sherman said. "The police had closed off the LIE just before Exit 49."
Police say Guevara was driving while impaired by drugs. Guevara and his passenger, John Hurtado-Conde, were also allegedly found in possession of narcotics.
The eastbound lanes near Exit 49 were closed around 6 a.m. as police investigated the crash. The lanes reopened around noon.
"There was a bit of a backup, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Sherman said. "I came back and 30 minutes later is when it pretty much cleared up."
Guevara and Hurtado-Conde are facing multiple drug-related charges.
Both men are expected to be arraigned Monday.
