Passenger killed in North Patchogue crash, police say

A late-night left turn at Waverly Avenue and Buckley Road ended in a fatal collision that has put one of North Patchogue’s busiest corridors back under a public safety spotlight. Suffolk County police said a passenger in the Kia Forte, Hilton Spokony, 45, of East Patchogue, died after the crash, while both drivers were hospitalized.

According to the Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit, Meredith Hill, 79, of East Patchogue, was driving a 2023 Kia Forte southbound on Waverly Avenue at about 10:10 p.m. Thursday when she attempted to turn left onto Buckley Road. The Kia collided with a northbound 2016 Dodge Ram driven by Michael Aulivola, 55, of Holtsville. Police said Spokony was the only passenger in the Kia.

Spokony was taken to NYU Langone Hospital – Suffolk in Patchogue, where he was pronounced dead. Hill was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and Aulivola was hospitalized with minor injuries. Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks as detectives continued their investigation.

The police release, dated Friday, June 12, did not say whether speed, distraction or impairment played a role. The Major Case Unit asked anyone with information to call 631-852-6555. For Suffolk County residents who travel the Patchogue area after dark, the timing and location matter: Waverly Avenue also houses the Suffolk County Police Fifth Precinct headquarters at 125 Waverly Avenue, placing this crash in the middle of a heavily watched stretch of road.

The immediate accountability question is not just what happened in this single turn, but what can be changed now to reduce the odds of another one. At intersections like Waverly and Buckley, the tools are familiar and concrete: clearer lane control, better nighttime visibility, review of signal timing and turn phases, and focused enforcement where drivers are most likely to misjudge gaps in traffic. Those are the practical levers Brookhaven and Suffolk officials can pull while detectives sort out the cause of Thursday’s wreck.

For now, the facts are stark. A routine turn at a familiar intersection killed Hilton Spokony and left two drivers injured, turning a Patchogue roadway into the latest scene of a fatal Suffolk County crash.