Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Two young people were killed late Monday night when a 2016 GMC Yukon driven by an off-duty NYPD officer slammed into a disabled BMW on the westbound Long Island Expressway in Old Westbury, hurling both victims over a divider and onto oncoming eastbound traffic. According to ABC7 New York, police identified the victims on Friday, May 27, 2016, as 18-year-old Lauren Stephan, of Salem, and 20-year-old Yousef Shaker, of Ridgewood — both of whom died from injuries sustained in the crash.
The sequence of events began when Shaker’s westbound 2004 BMW became disabled in the HOV lane of the LIE, between exits 40 and 39, at approximately 11:15 p.m. Shaker was carrying three passengers at the time. All four occupants — Shaker, Stephan, an 18-year-old female, and a 19-year-old male — exited the vehicle and were standing outside the BMW when the situation turned fatal, according to authorities cited by ABC7 New York.
A westbound 2016 GMC Yukon, driven by a 33-year-old male, then struck the disabled BMW in the HOV lane. The force of the impact was severe enough to propel the two victims who were standing outside the vehicle over the divider and onto the eastbound lanes of the expressway, according to police. It was in those eastbound lanes that both Stephan and Shaker suffered their fatal injuries. The other two passengers — the 18-year-old female and the 19-year-old male — were transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that were not described as life-threatening.
Yousef Shaker was pronounced deceased at the scene. Lauren Stephan was transported from the crash site but was later pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center, according to authorities. The driver of the GMC Yukon sustained only minor injuries. A source confirmed to ABC7 New York that the 33-year-old driver of the Yukon was an off-duty NYPD officer, though police did not publicly name him as part of their initial identification of the victims.
The crash unfolded in one of the most hazardous scenarios any roadway can present: a disabled vehicle in a high-speed lane at night, with occupants outside the car and exposed to live traffic. All four people in the BMW had exited the vehicle, placing them in immediate danger along a section of the LIE that carries heavy traffic even at late-night hours. The sequence — a stalled car, occupants standing in the travel lane, and a second vehicle striking the disabled car — is among the deadliest patterns documented in highway fatalities nationwide.
Nassau County police investigated the crash. At the time the victims were identified on Friday, no charges against the off-duty officer had been publicly reported. The investigation was described as ongoing.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the westbound Long Island Expressway (I-495) between exits 39 and 40 in Old Westbury, Nassau County — a stretch of the expressway that runs through one of Long Island’s busiest highway corridors. The HOV lane, where the BMW initially became disabled, sits on the far left of the highway and is separated from eastbound traffic by a divider, though that barrier was not enough to prevent the victims from being thrown across when struck by the force of the Yukon’s impact.
The Long Island Expressway is one of the most heavily traveled and incident-prone roadways in the region. Our database at Long Island Traffic tracks 795 recorded incidents on I-495, including recent events such as an overturned vehicle on I-495 and multiple crashes along the same corridor within recent days alone. Disabled vehicle incidents on the LIE — like the one that set this tragedy in motion — are a recurring and particularly dangerous category, as they often leave occupants exposed on high-speed lanes with limited visibility and reaction time for approaching drivers.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
As of the date of the victim identification report, no charges had been publicly announced against the 33-year-old off-duty NYPD officer who was driving the GMC Yukon. The Nassau County Police Department was leading the investigation into the circumstances of the crash. Authorities had confirmed the officer’s identity to ABC7 New York through a source, though the officer was not publicly named in conjunction with the victim identification announcement.
The involvement of an off-duty law enforcement officer in a fatal crash typically triggers a parallel review process, which can include departmental internal affairs scrutiny in addition to any criminal or traffic-violation investigations conducted by the local police jurisdiction. At the time of reporting, it remained unclear whether speed, distraction, or other factors contributed to the Yukon driver’s failure to avoid the disabled BMW in the HOV lane. According to ABC7 New York, the investigation was ongoing when the victims’ names were released on May 27, 2016.
Broader Impact
The deaths of Lauren Stephan and Yousef Shaker illustrate a critical and often overlooked danger on Long Island’s highways: the extreme risk faced by motorists who exit a disabled vehicle in a travel lane. New York State law and highway safety guidelines strongly advise drivers to move their vehicles — and themselves — as far off the roadway as possible in the event of a breakdown, and to remain behind the safety barrier whenever one is available. When a vehicle cannot be moved, passengers are urged to stay inside with seatbelts fastened rather than standing in active lanes, particularly at night. A disabled vehicle in an HOV lane, with occupants standing outside and no emergency lighting sufficient to warn high-speed traffic, represents one of the most acute hazard scenarios on any expressway — and this crash on the Long Island Expressway is a devastating example of how quickly that situation can become fatal.