Man Pleads Guilty In High-Speed Suffolk Crash That Killed 3: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A Bellport man pleaded guilty in connection with a Middle Island crash in 2019 that left three people dead, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said Thursday.

Nahriek Belford, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, a felony; two counts of second-degree manslaughter, a felony; and first-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer, a felony, Sini said.

At 11:45 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2019, Nahriek Belford, 19, who was driving a 2015 Nissan Rogue that had been reported stolen two days prior, was seen by a Suffolk County Police officer failing to yield at a stop sign at the intersection of Yaphank Avenue and Main Street in Yaphank, Sini said. The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, Sini said.

Belford fled from the police officer at a high rate of speed, driving recklessly through several residential neighborhoods in an attempt to evade the officer, Sini said. Then, at 11:50 p.m., as Belford was traveling westbound on Middle Country Road and Route 25 in Middle Island, he struck a 2009 Honda CRV that was attempting to make a left turn onto Birchwood Park Drive, Sini said.

Belford was driving at a speed of 106 miles per hour immediately before the crash — the force of the impact caused the Honda to be cut in half, Sini said.

The passengers in the Honda, Jerome Weingarten, 74, and his wife, Randee Weingarten, 71, of Middle Island, were both pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, police said. Belford’s brother, Angelo Belford, 19, of Bellport, who was a passenger in the Nissan, was also pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

“This was a tragic incident; three people lost their lives because of the reckless, dangerous actions of the defendant,” Sini said. “Today’s conviction holds him responsible for those deaths and provides justice for the victims and their families.

Belford is scheduled to be sentenced by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho on March 25; he is being represented by the Legal Aid Society, Sini said.