Manorville driver on LIE in Melville charged after striking, injuring motorist checking vehicle, Suffolk police say

A Manorville man faces driving while ability impaired and drug possession charges after he allegedly struck and seriously injured a motorist checking his vehicle early Sunday on the Long Island Expressway in Melville, the Suffolk County Police Department said. 

The 5:30 a.m. crash shut down all eastbound lanes near Exit 49N for more than six hours.

Cristian Guevara, 28, was driving a 2019 Honda Civic eastbound in the HOV lane when he struck Paven Putt Bhat, 27, who had been driving a 2025 Nissan Altima, the police department said in a news release. Bhat, of Center Moriches, had been checking for damage to the Nissan after it struck a median, according to the release.

Bhat was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip with serious injuries, the police said. 

Guevara was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, third- and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia, according to the release. His passenger, John Hurtado-Conde, 31, of Flanders, was also arrested on multiple charges, including third- and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia, according to police.

Guevara and Hurtado-Conde were being held late Sunday at the Third Precinct in Bay Shore and are scheduled to be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Information about whether either man had a defense attorney was not immediately available late Sunday afternoon.

The crash led to the complete shutdown of the LIE near Exit 49N at Route 110 in Melville, according to the traffic monitoring site 511NY.

Traffic was diverted off the LIE onto the South Service Road until the expressway reopened.

Newsday's Tracy Tullis contributed to this story.

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.