LI Teen Receives Jail Time For Crash That Killed 3: DA

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A Bellport teen was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday in connection to a fatal car crash in Middle Island in 2019, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

Nahriek Belford, 19, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, and first-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer, the DA said.

He was sentenced by Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho to the prison time along with five years of post-release supervision.

On Feb. 9, 2019, Belford was driving a stolen 2015 Nissan Rogue when he was spotted by a Suffolk police officer failing to stop at a stop sign on Yaphank Avenue and Main Street in Yaphank, the DA said. When the officer tried to pull him over, Belford sped away from him, driving recklessly through several residential neighborhoods, the DA said.

He then crashed into a 2009 Honda CRV on Middle Country Road while driving 106 mph, causing the Honda to be cut in half, the DA said. The passengers in the Honda, 74-year-old Jerome Weingarten, and his wife, 71-year-old Randee Weingarten, of Middle Island, were both pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, the DA said.

Belford’s brother, 19-year-old Angelo Belford, of Bellport, who was a passenger in the Nissan, was also pronounced dead, the DA said.

"This defendant’s actions had devastating impacts on the victims’ families and the community at large,” Sini said.