19-year-old Center Moriches man killed in Moriches motorcycle crash

Charles Carrano, 19, of Center Moriches, died Tuesday after his 2006 Honda motorcycle collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Montauk Highway and James Hawkins Road in Moriches. The crash happened at 12:42 p.m., in the middle of a normal South Shore afternoon, leaving a family and a familiar roadway corridor marked by a fatal loss.

Suffolk County police said Carrano was riding eastbound on Montauk Highway when he struck a 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck driven by Leonardo Munoz-Umanzor, 27, of East Moriches. Carrano was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Munoz-Umanzor was not injured. Police said both vehicles were impounded for a safety check as detectives began reconstructing the crash sequence at the Moriches intersection.

The Suffolk County Police Seventh Squad is investigating. Investigators have not said what caused the collision, and they have not identified any factor such as speed, visibility or lane position as contributing to the wreck. The case remains open as officers work to determine how the motorcycle and pickup ended up in the same path at Montauk Highway and James Hawkins Road.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752. The request for witnesses underscores how little is yet settled beyond the basic facts: a young Center Moriches man was riding east on a 2006 Honda, an East Moriches driver was in a Ram 1500, and the impact was severe enough to kill Carrano at the scene.

For Moriches and Center Moriches, the crash is a stark reminder of how quickly an ordinary ride on Montauk Highway can turn fatal where through-traffic and turning movements meet. The intersection now sits at the center of a police investigation and a community loss that will be felt well beyond the afternoon when the collision happened.