Update: Middle Island man arrested in fatal hit-and-run
Update: Joseph Plummer, 48, of Middle Island was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving a death, Riverhead Town police said. Police said Mr. Plummer was arrested after an investigation led to the location of the 1999 Saturn involved in the accident. He is being held for arraignment.
Below is our original coverage:
A Brookhaven man was killed after being struck by two cars on East Main Street Friday night at about 5:40 p.m., according to Riverhead Town Police, who said one of the cars did not stop.
Scott Wayte, 50, of Brookhaven was attempting to cross East Main Street from north to south when he was struck by an unknown westbound vehicle that sent him into the eastbound lane, where he was struck again by a second vehicle, a 2006 Honda Pilot, driven by Ernest Austin, 53, of Glen Rock, PA.
Mr. Austin continued driving eastbound for a short distance until he realized he struck someone and came to a stop near the Riverhead Stationary, according to police.
Mr. Wayte was pinned underneath the Honda when police first arrived at the scene and was pronounced dead by a responding paramedic from the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance.
Mr. Austin was not charged in relation to the accident.
It was Mr. Wayte’s 50th birthday Friday, according to his sister.
“Life really sucks,” Bunny Wayte wrote on Facebook Friday night. “Tonight my brother was hit by a runaway car and killed on his 50th birthday.”
Another family member said Mr. Wayte was about to have a birthday dinner with his family when he attempted to repark his vehicle and was struck outside Cliff’s Rendezvous.
Allie Wayte, one of Mr. Wayte’s two daughters, tweeted Friday night that she wished “this was a dream.”
In addition to his daughter Allie, 19, Mr. Waite is survived by another daughter, Brooke, 24, and his wife Denise.
Police are still trying to the locate the first vehicle that hit Mr. Wayte and fled the scene, and ask that anyone who may have witnessed the accident, or who may have information about the first vehicle contact the detective division at 727-4500 ext. 289.
A section of East Main Street from Maple Avenue to Ostrander Avenue was closed to traffic, and sidewalks along those streets were closed to pedestrians, for several hours while the investigation was ongoing.
With reporting by Grant Parpan.
