Nassau County

Utility Truck Plows Through Vehicles, Strikes and Kills Bicyclist During Wild Ride

During the destruction, the truck ran over a bicyclist who was riding alongside the road — but kept on going even after that, smashing into more trucks before coming to a halt after plowing into a box truck

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A bicyclist was killed and cars were left smashed after a utility truck's deadly demolition derby rampaged through a Long Island town's streets.

Nassau County police said the utility truck driver started hitting car after car on Merchants Concourse in Garden City around 4:30 p.m. Friday. Witnesses said it look like something out of a movie, as the truck ran through a slew of vehicles as if they were toy cars.

"I saw him hit the blue car, the rear windshield exploded. (The driver) turned it around in the opposite direction, and he kept on going!" said Ralph Pascuzzo. "Unfortunately, he took somebody's life."

At some point during the destruction, the truck ran over a bicyclist who was riding alongside the road — and kept on going even after that. Police did not confirm if anyone else was injured in the mayhem, but the 39-year-old bicyclist died.

Witnesses said the wild ride only came to a halt after the driver plowed into the side of a box truck that was waiting at the light at Stewart Avenue. The crash happened with such force that the truck was pushed nearly half a block down the street by the impact, but eventually the truck came to a stop.

One woman said that the driver seemed uninjured as he was in the back of an ambulance, handcuffed by police. Authorities later identified the driver Saturday as Matthew Mummaw, 33, of Jacksonville, Florida. He faces a handful of charges including manslaughter, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an incident.

"He was crazy, with handcuffs and just screaming out of his head for no reason," said Elsa Vega.

The street where the bicyclist was killed was still closed late into the night, and the investigation is ongoing. It was not immediately clear which utility company the driver worked for.

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