Privacy update — September 18, 2026: Identifying details have been removed under our victim privacy policy.
What Happened
A 19-year-old man from Smithtown and a 72-year-old man from Kingston were both killed Sunday morning, August 23, 2026, in a head-on collision on Route 28 in the Town of Olive, Ulster County, according to New York State Troopers as reported by the New York Post.
The younger driver was driving a 2024 Chevrolet westbound on Route 28 when the vehicle crossed the center line into the eastbound lane just before 6:50 a.m. The Chevrolet struck the older driver’s 2021 Mercedes-Benz head-on. State Troopers have not released a cause for the lane departure.
First responders extricated both drivers from their vehicles. The 19-year-old was transported to HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, where he died from his injuries. The 72-year-old was also initially taken to HealthAlliance but was then transferred to MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, southeast of Kingston across the Hudson River, where he died, police said.
The younger victim was a 2025 graduate of Smithtown West High School on Long Island and a standout lacrosse player. He had committed to play Division I lacrosse at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, but before the 2025 fall semester he withdrew that commitment, choosing instead to stay closer to home and pursue training as an electrician, Newsday reported. He was the adoptive son of a retired Suffolk County and NYPD officer, Newsday reported. A GoFundMe established for his family describes him as someone who “could walk into a room and bring energy with him” and noted his enthusiasm for working on cars.
The older victim, 72, was the founder and president of Owen Kane Holdings, a Wall Street-based medical equipment supplier, and the creator and CEO of DOTmed, described in his biography as the world’s leading public medical equipment marketplace. He founded both companies in 1999 after working in both the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union, and had been active in the medical industry since the 1970s, according to the New York Post.
Location & Road Context
Route 28 runs through the Town of Olive in Ulster County, roughly northwest of Kingston in the Hudson Valley. The two-lane rural road connects Kingston to the Catskill region and carries a mix of local and recreational traffic, particularly on summer weekends. The crash site is outside the Kingston city limits, in an area of Ulster County where divided roadways and physical barriers between travel lanes are absent on most segments.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
New York State Troopers are investigating the crash and, as of the Post’s report published August 26, 2026, have not identified a cause for the younger driver’s vehicle crossing into the eastbound lane. No charges have been announced. The investigation is being handled by the State Police out of their Ulster County jurisdiction. Troopers have not indicated whether speed, medical episode, or any other factor contributed to the lane departure.