Skip to main content

Fiery Motorcycle Wreck on Napeague

Thu, 07/16/2020 - 12:42
A motorcyclist walked away mostly unhurt after dodging a collision and falling from his Kawasaki, which hit a guardrail and burst into flames.
Doug Kuntz

In a fiery 2 a.m. crash more dramatic than harmful, Matthew Porcelli's motorcycle erupted in flames on Sunday as he was riding east on Montauk Highway near Surf Drive in Amagansett.

Mr. Porcelli, 21, of Commack, told East Hampton Town police he had swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid a collision, lost control, and fell off the 2020 Kawasaki, which collided with a guard rail and burst into flames. The young man got off easy, with road rash to his back but no broken bones. 

Amagansett firefighters extinguished the flames, and an Amagansett Fire Department ambulance took Mr. Porcelli to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital to be checked out. He was released after treatment. 

On the afternoon of July 6, at the Route 27 intersection with Wainscott Northwest Road, Sergio Arnold Lopez, 38, of West Haven, Conn., driving a 2004 Ford Pickup truck, rear-ended Robert Edlund's 2004 Dodge. Neither Mr. Edlund, of Mastic Beach, nor Mr. Lopez required medical attention, though both Mr. Edlund and his passenger, Justin Knaptik, complained of neck pain.

Mouhamadou Gaye of East Hampton, 21, told town police he had fallen asleep at the wheel on Friday morning before running off the road at the intersection of Accabonac Road and Collins Avenue, into some small trees. He was driving an Enterprise Rent-a-Car, which was badly damaged and was towed by V&V Auto.

On the Police Logs 10.15.26

Two women stole a pumpkin from a bench outside Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett Saturday. 

Oct 15, 2026

Several Hurt in Weekend Accidents

An e-bike rider was hit by a car and injured just after midnight Sunday on Main Street in Amagansett, among other collisions.

Oct 15, 2026

On the Police Logs 10.08.26

A man flagged down police on Main Street in Sag Harbor Saturday night to tell an officer that a woman dining at Tutto il Giorno had “told his kids to shut up.”

Oct 8, 2026

Sentenced in P.T.A. Theft

Hope Livingston, a former Sag Harbor P.T.A. treasurer, was sentenced to five years of probation and restitution after pleading guilty to third-degree grand larceny and agreeing to a plea deal with county prosecutors. 

Oct 8, 2026

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.