Smithtown driver seriously injured in Lake Ronkonkoma crash, police investigate

A Smithtown man was seriously injured when his Hyundai Accent struck a Chevrolet Trailblazer at Express Drive North and Pond Road in Lake Ronkonkoma, turning a familiar commuter intersection into the focus of a Suffolk County Police investigation.

Suffolk County Police said Brian Fearon, 33, was driving a 2010 Hyundai Accent westbound on Express Drive North when it hit a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer at about 5:49 p.m. on May 7. Fearon was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries, and Fourth Squad detectives were sent to examine the crash.

Later information identified the driver of the Trailblazer as Sharon Condit, 61, of Ronkonkoma. She was also taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries. Police said both vehicles were impounded for a safety check as investigators worked to piece together how the two vehicles came together at the intersection.

The crash drew attention not only because of the injuries, but because of where it happened. Express Drive North and Pond Road sits in one of central Suffolk’s busier traffic areas, where local trips, commuter traffic and turning movements all share the same roadway space. When a serious collision happens there, the impact is immediate: a nearby neighborhood feels it, first responders are tied up, and families are left dealing with hospital transport and vehicle damage in the middle of the evening rush.

Stony Brook University Hospital, part of Stony Brook Medicine, is Suffolk County’s only Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, a designation that underscores the seriousness of Fearon’s injuries and why a major crash in central Suffolk would send a patient there. Police have not said whether speed, distraction, right-of-way or roadway conditions played a role. The crash remained under investigation as of the department’s May 7 release.