Driver suffered medical event, leading pickup to crash into home; passenger airlifted

Update (5:15 p.m.): Riverhead Town police said the vehicle that crashed into a house Wednesday hit an embankment after leaving the roadway and became airborne before striking the house. Police said the driver appeared to suffer a medical event, which led him to lose control of the vehicle.

The crash occurred shortly after 1 p.m. and the 1993 Ford pickup caught fire with the occupants trapped inside “for a period of time” and they were extricated with assistance from the Riverhead Fire Department as the fire was extinguished.

The driver was treated at the scene by members of the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps and transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center for injuries that were not life-threatening. A passenger in the vehicle was also treated at the scene and then airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for injuries that were also not life-threatening.

Police said an occupant of the home had just left the kitchen where the pickup crashed prior to the accident.

Police did not release the names of the driver and passenger of the pickup.

Original Story: A pickup truck slammed into the front of a West Main Street home Wednesday after the driver appeared to have lost control while traveling westbound.

The pickup crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and ended up halfway through a window in the front of the home.

Kevin Gatto of Jamesport said his ex-wife and their 12-year-old son were inside the house and escaped injury. He said his she was shaken up and transported to a local hospital, but is otherwise OK.

A medevac was called for the passenger in the pickup, whose condition was not yet available.

Mr. Gatto said his son called him while he was at work and told him a truck had just crashed into the house.

‘I said, ‘Oh my god, what?’” Mr. Gatto recalled.

Shortly after 3 p.m., about an hour after the crash, Mr. Gatto was allowed inside to begin assessing the damage. He said his ex-wife’s father owns the home.

“I’m waiting for the OK and we’re going to start boarding it up,” he said.

The Riverhead Fire Marshal was on scene investigating.