Update: Boy injured in Horton Avenue crash held overnight as a “precaution”
A young child was airlifted to Stony Brook hospital and held overnight as a “precaution” after he was struck by a pickup truck on Horton Avenue Wednesday night, police said.
Riverhead police said they received a call at 8 p.m. about a child hit by a vehicle on Horton Avenue near the traffic circle.
The 5-year-old boy walked across Horton Avenue and was hit by a northbound 1997 Mazda B2300 pickup truck driven by Cornelius Trent, 41, of Flanders who was unable to stop his truck in time, police said.
Mr. Trent said he was heading home from work when the accident happened, police and the man’s wife told the News-Review.
Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance EMTs responded to the accident, police said, and the boy was airlifted by a Suffolk County Police helicopter to Stony Brook University Medical Center for treatment of bruises and cuts he suffered in the crash. He will be held overnight for observation as a precaution.
Police did not release the child’s identity.
The pickup truck driver was not charged in the incident, police at the scene said.
The helicopter landed in a field next to basketball courts just north of the the traffic circle where Middle Road and Horton and Osborn avenues meet. A large crowd had also gathered there after the crash.
Police closed both Horton and Osborn avenues heading north from the circle. East and westbound traffic on Middle Road was being diverted into one lane. Traffic on Osborn Avenue south of the circle was also being diverted into one lane.
The roads were opened as of about 9:30 p.m., and police had left the scene.
Barbaraellen Koch and Melanie Drozd contributed reporting.
