Police

Cops: Jamesport man was lying in roadway when struck in Laurel

RACHEL YOUNG PHOTO | Police investigate the scene of a fatal accident Thursday morning in Laurel.
RACHEL YOUNG PHOTO | Police investigate the scene of a fatal accident Thursday morning in Laurel.

Southold Town police say the Jamesport man who was killed after being struck by two cars while out jogging along Main Road in Laurel Thursday morning was lying in the road when he was hit by the vehicles.

James Callaghan, 49, was hit in dense fog before dawn about 250 feet east of Laurel Lane, according to a police statement.

He died at the scene, police said.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but police said it appears that Mr. Callaghan was struck by two westbound vehicles — an SUV and a sedan — shortly before 5:45 a.m. The drivers of the two vehicles were not injured, police said.

Investigators are looking into whether Mr. Callaghan was hit by a first vehicle that left him in the road and fled the scene of the crash, according to a police statement. Police also said that Mr. Callaghan may have suffered a medical emergency while jogging that caused him to be lying in the road.

Authorities said Riverhead and Southold police were originally called to the scene.

Jamesport Fire Department’s heavy rescue team and the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps also responded but the scene was turned over to Mattituck’s rescue squad when it was determined that the crash had happened within their jurisdiction, fire officials said.

Mattituck firefighters closed Main Road in both directions while the scene was cleared; the road remained closed until about 2 p.m. while Southold police, the county District Attorney’s Vehicular Crime Bureau, crime lab, and county medical examiner’s office investigated the scene.

Police have asked anyone with information about the crash to call police detectives at (631) 765-2600.

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