Man Charged With Unlicensed Driving After Deadly LIE Crash: Police

BRENTWOOD, NY — A man was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle on Wednesday after his car crashed into another near Brentwood, killing a man, Suffolk County police said.

Brandon Gillespie, 36, of Smithtown, was at the wheel of a 2012 Jeep Liberty stopped in the right lane of eastbound Long Island Expressway, east of Sagtikos Parkway, around 12:45 a.m., when the vehicle was rear-ended by a 2016 Ford box truck.

Gillespie was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, police said. The driver of the Ford, Taron Smith, 31, of Patchogue, was not injured.

Smith charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, police said. He was also issued multiple summonses for Federal Motor Carrier Safety violations.

He will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip at a later date, police said.

Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks. Anyone with information on this crash is asked to call the Third Squad at 631-854-8352.