Witnesses: Dog Causes Driverless Truck To Slam Into Village Parking Meter

A witness, left, holds Monday evening a dog that was left in an unoccupied truck that crashed into a Huntington village parking meter and damaged an adjacent lamp post. (Long Islander News photo/Andrew Wroblewski)

By Jano Tantongco & Andrew Wroblewski
info@longislandergroup.com

An apparently unoccupied truck slammed into a Huntington village parking meter and knocked over a lamp post on Wall Street Monday evening, witnesses said.

The crash occurred at around 6:30 p.m., after the driver of the truck reportedly left his vehicle for an unknown reason and came back to find it crashed  onto the sidewalk and into the parking meter.

Witnesses said at the time of the crash there was a dog in the truck. The dog appeared to be unharmed. There were also no injuries reported at the scene of the crash, which occurred on the eastern side of Wall Street, in front of Plates Restaurant.

Patio diners of the neighboring Christopher’s bar and restaurant were seated just a few feet away from the street lamp that was also hit in the crash and slammed down onto the concrete, shattering glass across the sidewalk and street.

Three of those diners, Amanda Adrion, of Melville; Kristie McKenna, of North Massapequa; and Rebecca Noreman, of Woodbury; speculated at the scene that the dog left in the vehicle caused the driverless truck to roll into the lamp post and parking meter.

“We know that it was the dog,” Adrion said.

The driver of the vehicle, who declined to give his name, would not comment on the incident.

Suffolk police arrived at the scene shortly after the crash. An officer said the crash was an apparent “accident,” but declined to comment further.

This story is developing.