A 27-year-old Center Moriches man was left with serious injuries early Sunday after he stepped out of his car on the Long Island Expressway in Melville to check for damage from an earlier crash, only to be struck by a second vehicle. Suffolk County police say the driver of that second car and his passenger were both found with narcotics and now face felony charges.
According to Greater Long Island, Paven Putt Bhat was driving a 2025 Nissan Altima east in the HOV lane near Exit 50 when he struck the median around 5:50 a.m. Sunday. He was then hit by a 2019 Honda Civic driven by 28-year-old Cristian Guevara, per the same report. Bhat is being treated for serious injuries at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, according to Suffolk police statements cited by the outlet.
Suffolk police said the crash amounted to a chain-reaction collision that left the Center Moriches man badly injured, and that two men were found in possession of drugs afterward, the outlet reports. Guevara was driving under the influence of drugs, according to police, while his passenger, 31-year-old John Hurtado-Conde of Flanders, was also found in possession of narcotics. Police did not release Guevara's hometown in their initial statements, though Newsday later identified him as a Manorville resident.
Six-Hour Shutdown Snarled Eastbound Traffic
The collision forced law enforcement to close all eastbound lanes of the LIE near Exit 49N — just west of the Exit 50 crash site — for more than six hours while crews cleared the scene and investigated, Newsday reported. The closure came during an already difficult stretch for LIE commuters in Melville, where a sinkhole near Exit 49N led to closures that could last at least a day earlier this year.
Guevara and Hurtado-Conde were held overnight at the Suffolk County Police Department's Third Precinct in Bay Shore ahead of their court appearance Monday, according to Daily Voice. Both men are expected to be arraigned Monday at Suffolk First District Court in Central Islip, per Greater Long Island.
Felony Drug Counts Stack Up Against Both Men
Guevara faces charges of driving while ability impaired by drugs, along with third-degree and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia, according to the outlet's reporting. Hurtado-Conde faces the identical drug and paraphernalia counts, though he was not charged with impaired driving.
Third-degree possession is classified as a Class B felony under New York Penal Law § 220.16, carrying up to nine years in prison for a first-time offender — or as much as 25 years under maximum statutory sentencing rules — plus fines of up to $30,000, according to the NYS Senate. The fifth-degree possession charge is listed in the report, while the paraphernalia counts against both men are Class A misdemeanors under Penal Law § 220.50, the same source notes.
The outlet reported Guevara's DWAI-Drugs charge under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192(4).
Stepping Onto an Active Highway Carries Its Own Risk
The circumstances of Bhat's second collision illustrate the risk of exiting onto active travel lanes after a breakdown or minor crash.
New York expanded its Move Over Law under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1144-a effective March 27, 2024, requiring drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching any stopped or disabled vehicle, according to the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. The expanded law took effect March 27, 2024.
Sunday's crash was among the serious highway collisions on Long Island this year. The report focuses on Sunday's crash rather than listing other severe crashes on the same corridor.
