3 Photos
The scene on Townline Road in Sagaponack Thursday.
The investigation underway on Townline Road.
As the investigation that killed a young boy on Townline Road continued Thursday evening. MICHAEL WRIGHT
An 11-year-old boy died on Thursday evening, July 7, after he was hit by a truck while riding a bike on Townline Road in Sagaponack.
According to Southampton Town Police, at approximately 5:25 p.m., Jhony Nieto, 42, of East Hampton was backing into a driveway at a residential work site, when the boy, riding on the west side of Townline Road, which does not have sidewalks, crossed behind the 2022 Ford Ranger pickup. The child was wearing a helmet but was riding against traffic.
Town Police, on the request of the victim’s family, are not identifying him by name, but said he lives near the accident scene.
“It is a tragic situation for everyone involved. Mr. Nieto is grief stricken,” Colin Astarita, Nieto’s attorney, said Friday morning. “His thoughts and prayers are with the child’s family.”
Astarita said he spoke with his client while he was at the scene the prior night: “He cooperated fully with the investigation, including providing a blood sample.”
According to Captain James Kiernan, it’s standard protocol to administer a Breathalyzer test to check for possible alcohol use at such scenes. “It was perfectly clear — zero indication of alcohol,” the captain said of the roadside test results. Going a step further, Nieto offered a blood sample.
On Friday, Kiernan confirmed Astarita’s report that no charges had been filed against the driver.
“He stayed with us as long as we needed to investigate the accident thoroughly,” Kiernan said of Nieto. “The man fully cooperated and assisted detectives,” police spokeswoman Lieutenant Susan Ralph added.
“It was just a terrible accident,” Astarita said.
Around a dozen officers from the Southampton Town Police Department responded to the scene. Kiernan said they have all been offered wellness counseling. While officers are experienced in responding to serious, even fatal accidents, the captain acknowledged, “When it’s a child, it really hits.”
Bridgehampton Fire Department Heavy Rescue responded to extricate the child, who was pinned under the vehicle. East Hampton Town Police and Bridgehampton Ambulance were also on the scene.
The child was rushed to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. At the scene, first responders were able to revive the child. “They were hopeful,” Kiernan said, as the ambulance raced to the hospital, where the boy’s parents met them.
This was the second fatal accident involving a bicyclist and a vehicle on the South Fork in five days.
On Sunday, July 3, Russell Windsor, a 70-year-old part-time Amagansett resident, was killed on the Napeague stretch in the hamlet. He was cycling on the eastern side of the road but entered the driving lane of Montauk Highway and was struck by a minivan. Witnesses said he may have been trying to cross the street.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 932 bicyclists were killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes in 2020 nationally, an 8.9 percent increase from 856 in 2019. Bicyclists’ deaths accounted for 2 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities.
Last May, the administration released its early estimate of traffic fatalities for 2021. NHTSA projects that an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year, a 10.5-percent increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection reflects the highest number of fatalities since 2005, with fatal accidents involving bicyclists in 2021 up 5 percent compared to the prior year.
