Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A Deer Park man is dead and three others — including a Suffolk County police officer — were injured in two separate but directly linked crashes on Deer Park Avenue in the early morning hours of Monday, July 14, 2025, according to News 12 Long Island.
Suffolk County Police said Anthony Guglielmo, 56, a resident of Deer Park, was driving a 2013 Mini Cooper northbound on Deer Park Avenue when his vehicle collided with a 2011 Jeep Liberty traveling westbound through the intersection at Grand Boulevard at approximately 3:40 a.m. The impact was severe enough to send both drivers to the hospital. Guglielmo was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he later died from his injuries. The driver of the Jeep Liberty, identified as Stefanie Russo, 37, of Hauppauge, was also taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she was treated for injuries described as non-life-threatening.
The violence of the night on Deer Park Avenue did not end there. Just eleven minutes after the fatal collision, at approximately 3:51 a.m., a Suffolk County police officer responding to the scene in a marked patrol vehicle became involved in a second crash at the intersection of Deer Park Avenue and Lake Avenue — less than a mile from the original scene. According to officials, as reported by News 12 Long Island, the officer had activated the patrol car’s lights and sirens and was traveling southbound on Deer Park Avenue toward the fatal crash site when the vehicle struck a 1997 Ford van traveling eastbound through the intersection. Both the officer and the driver of the Ford van were the sole occupants of their respective vehicles. Both men were transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where their injuries were also determined to be non-life-threatening.
The two crashes combined to shut down a stretch of Deer Park Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Lake Avenue for approximately four hours. The road was eventually reopened at 7:45 a.m., according to News 12 Long Island. During the closure, motorists were forced to seek alternate routes through the surrounding Deer Park and Babylon-area road network.
The sequence of events — a fatal crash followed within minutes by a second collision involving an emergency responder en route — underscores the particular danger that nighttime intersections and early-morning response calls pose on arterial roads in Suffolk County. The 3:40 a.m. timestamp of the initial crash places it squarely in the window when traffic volumes are low but driver alertness can be significantly reduced. The conditions under which the crashes occurred — including vehicle speeds, road surface, lighting, and whether either driver in the initial crash had consumed alcohol — have not been confirmed in official statements released as of the time of publication.
In total, four individuals were transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip as a result of the two crashes: Anthony Guglielmo, who died; Jeep driver Stefanie Russo, treated for non-life-threatening injuries; the Suffolk County police officer, treated for non-life-threatening injuries; and the driver of the 1997 Ford van, similarly treated for injuries not considered life-threatening. The identities of the officer and the van driver have not been publicly released.
Location & Road Context
The crashes took place on Deer Park Avenue, a major north-south arterial road running through the heart of Deer Park in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County. The corridor between Grand Boulevard and Lake Avenue — the stretch that was shut down — is a commercially and residentially active section of the road, lined with businesses and intersecting several cross streets that see regular traffic even during overnight hours. Deer Park Avenue connects to a network of surface roads that feed into the broader Suffolk County road grid, and it is frequently used as a through route by commuters and commercial vehicles alike.
Our local incident database contains 319 recorded accidents in Suffolk County, reflecting the consistent and elevated crash risk across the county’s dense network of surface roads and parkways. Intersection crashes — particularly those involving crossing traffic at uncontrolled or signal-controlled junctions on arterial roads — represent a persistent category of collision type across Long Island.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Suffolk County Police have confirmed that the investigation into the circumstances of both crashes remains ongoing. No charges have been announced as of the time of publication, and no cause of the initial fatal collision has been officially established. Investigators from the First Squad are handling the case.
Anyone with information about the crashes is asked to contact First Squad detectives directly at (631) 854-8152. Suffolk County Police have not released the identity of the officer involved in the second crash or the identity of the Ford van’s driver, and it is not yet known whether either driver in the initial fatal collision will face criminal charges.
Broader Impact
The second crash — in which a marked, lights-and-sirens police vehicle struck another car while responding to an active scene — raises specific questions about emergency vehicle approach protocols at nighttime intersections, a factor that investigators will likely examine closely as part of the ongoing inquiry. Suffolk County has seen multiple serious crashes in recent months, including a motorcyclist seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash and eight arrests at a sobriety checkpoint, reflecting continued pressure on law enforcement and road safety infrastructure across the region. Drivers who may have witnessed either collision on Deer Park Avenue Monday morning are encouraged to reach out to First Squad detectives at the number listed above.