Two drivers were killed and a passenger was injured in a wrong-way crash on Sunrise Highway Sunday morning, and a police officer responding to the scene was also hurt when his cruiser was struck by a street sweeper.
Police say 23-year-old Kevin Melgar, of Brentwood, was heading east in the westbound lanes of Sunrise Highway in a 2004 Infiniti vehicle around 4 a.m. Around Exit 57, he collided with a 2001 Chevrolet van driven by 49-year-old Ozcan Ayyidiz, of Mastic Beach.
Melgar was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ayyidiz was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A passenger in Melgar's car, identified as 25-year-old Jonathan Valladares, of Brentwood, was hospitalized in critical condition.
While officers responded to the crash scene, police say a street sweeper vehicle passed through the road closure and struck two occupied police vehicles. Both patrol cars had their emergency lights on at the time.
One officer, a 4-year veteran, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening. The other officer, a sergeant with 27 years on the force, was not injured.
The driver of the street sweeper, identified as 36-year-old Robert Cook, of Levittown, was not injured. But officers say they performed a safety inspection of the street sweeper and issued multiple violations.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the wrong-way crash to call the Fifth Squad at 631-854-8552.