SUFFOLK COUNTY, Long Island (PIX11) — A Long Island family is looking for answers after their loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury in a weekend car crash.
The 22-year-old from East Northport was a passenger in a ride-share vehicle. The family says police are giving them conflicting information about the driver of the other car.
More Local News James King’s family says they got a knock at the door early Saturday morning. A police officer handed them an initial piece of paperwork that listed a 57-year-old man as the driver of a car that hit the Uber King was riding in.
The next day at the hospital, the family says other detectives claimed the driver of the car responsible for the crash was a 17-year-old who is the son of a Suffolk County detective.
The family says they have gotten no answers since then.
King suffered a serious brain injury and remained sedated at the hospital Tuesday. His sister says they can’t get answers as to why the initial accident report said the driver of the car that hit the Uber was a 57-year-old Suffolk County detective when they’ve been told since that his 17-year-old son was driving and ran a stop sign at Saratoga Avenue and Elwood Road.
They don’t know if a breathalyzer test was done.
Witnesses told PIX11 News that there was a car full of teenagers that hit the Uber, not a 57-year-old man.
The family wants answers. They question if the crash investigation is being handled differently because it involves a police family.
“It doesn’t make sense. None of it makes sense and my brother is lying in the ICU,” said Amanda, James’ sister. “He deserves a regular normal investigation.”
Suffolk police initially did not put out a news release about the crash that happened early Saturday morning. The department typically releases crash investigations.
More: Latest News from PIX11 PIX11 News contacted the Suffolk County Police Department for information. A spokesperson said three people were injured and the major case squad was investigating but declined to provide any other details.
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office would not comment on whether it is handling the case and referred PIX11 News back to the police.
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