The driver of the minivan rear-ended by a dump truck on Northville Turnpike Sunday afternoon is the assistant pastor of First Baptist Church of Riverhead, who was waiting to turn left into the church driveway when the dump truck slammed into her vehicle, witnesses said, sending it careening across the wide lawn of the church and into a hedge on the opposite side of the property.
The Rev. Cynthia A. Liggon, 47, was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where she was treated and released.
The operator of the dump truck, who fled the scene, was arrested by police on Route 105, after being pursued by an off-duty Riverhead police detective who happened to be driving behind the truck on Northville Turnpike. Det. Michael Schmidt followed the truck north to Rt. 105, where it headed northbound on the divided highway, before being pulled over by another officer.
The truck driver, identified by police as Oliberto Gonzalez, was charged with felony driving while intoxicated, based upon a prior DWI conviction within the past 10 years, Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said Monday.
Gonzalez was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, as well as other violations, the chief said. He was arraigned today in Riverhead Town Justice Court and remanded to the Suffolk County Jail in Riverside. He is subject to an immigration hold, Hegermiller said.
Liggon was the sole occupant of the Honda minivan at the time of the accident, which occurred at about 3 p.m. Sunday.
In a telephone interview Monday evening, Liggon said she was returning to church after driving her husband home. The assistant pastor was planning to drive Pastor Charles Coverdale and his wife Shirley, along with a few parishioners, to a church in Coram for fellowship.
"I looked in my rearview mirror and saw he was right on me," Liggon said. "There was no moving or dodging." A thunderous crash followed and, next, her van was crossing the church lawn between the south and north entrances.
"It was one of those surreal moments people always talk about," Liggon recalled. "I thought, 'Is this really happening to me?' and wondered where I was going to end up," she said.
"I'm just so grateful that I was alone in the car and that no one was in its path," Liggon said. A group was gathered outside the church waiting to take the drive to Coram, "like a caravan," Liggon said. Among them was her elderly mother, Liggon said, who witnessed the whole thing from the backseat of a parked car in the church parking lot.
Liggon said she "had no idea of the size of that truck" until she saw the pictures on RiverheadLOCAL today. "This could have turned out very badly," the pastor said. "I feel very grateful."
Gonzalez was driving a truck registered to the Riverhead-based Hugo Rios Masonry and Landscaping company. No one at the company could be reached for comment Monday.
Photo captions
Top: Minivan driven by First Baptist Church assistant pastor Cynthia Liggon after it came to a stop in the hedge on church property following Sunday afternoon's crash in front of the church. RiverheadLOCAL photo by Emil Breitenbach.
Middle: The Rev. Cynthia A. Liggon, right, with her daughter Lauren Liggon and Melvin Robinson at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Jan. 16. RiverheadLOCAL photo by Peter Blasl.
Bottom: The dump truck involved in the accident was parked on the side of Rt. 105 after poice took its driver into custody Sunday afternoon. RiverheadLOCAL photo by Emil Breitenbach.