A head-on crash between a Jeep and a Riverhead school district bus on Sound Avenue in Riverhead yesterday afternoon left a Nassau County man dead and the bus driver injured.
Riverhead Police said John A. Caputo, 31, of Valley Stream was operating a Jeep Cherokee westbound on Sound Avenue when he crossed into the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into an eastbound Riverhead Central School District bus just before 5 p.m.
Police officers determined Caputo was not breathing and performed CPR at the scene. Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded and transported Caputo to Peconic Bay Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said in a press release early this morning.
The driver of the school bus, Ana Membreno Argueta, 30, of Mastic, was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, according to the release. The sole student passenger in the bus was uninjured, police said.
A few moments before the crash, Riverhead Police received a report of an erratic driver in a silver Jeep Cherokee westbound on Sound Avenue and failing to maintain his lane of travel, according to the press release.
Sound Avenue between West and Church lanes was closed for several hours following the crash, as Riverhead Police detectives, assisted by a New York State Police accident reconstruction team, responded to investigate.
Riverhead Police ask anyone with information and any witnesses to call the Riverhead Police Department at 631-727-4500. All calls will be kept confidential, police said.
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