Crime & Safety
Plainview Teen Dies in Parkway Crash
Driver loses control of car, hits tree at Manetto Hill Road exit.
An 18-year-old Plainview JFK graduate died Friday when he lost control of his eastbound car and struck a tree on the Northern State Parkway.
State Police said Kristian Espenas, of 25 Bradford Road, Plainview, was trying to leave the Parkway at the Manetto Hill Road exit when he failed to negotiate a curve. Espenas' 1999 Ford struck an exit sign and then slammed into a tree. The crash happened at 2:36 p.m. Friday, State Police confirmed Monday.
Police believe speed was a factor in the crash.
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Plainview firefighters responded to the scene and removed the victim from the wreckage. He was transported to Plainview hospital, where he was pronounced dead, State Police said. Eyewitnesses said the wreckage was strewn all over the eastbound roadway.
A make-shift memorial of flowers has been placed in the vicinity of the crash at Exit 37, located not far from the Parkway Elementary School.
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Espenas graduated fromHigh School last June. His Facebook page indicated he was a student at Nassau Community College in Garden City.
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