Three Good Samaritans, including an off-duty Suffolk County police officer, chased down a teenager after he ran from a fatal Centereach crash involving a stolen SUV, prosecutors said.
Matthew Papile, now 18, of Port Jefferson, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated vehicular homicide and several related charges stemming from the May 4, 2024 crash that killed 73-year-old Marion Napolitano.
Papile was 16 at the time of the crash.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Papile was driving a stolen 2008 Land Rover LR2 eastbound on Middle Country Road while impaired by marijuana and livestreaming his driving on Instagram.
Earlier that day, a Coram resident had reported the Land Rover missing from his driveway.
At about 9:10 p.m., Papile struck the side of another vehicle and continued driving, prosecutors said. He then weaved across lanes, cut off other vehicles and sped along Middle Country Road.
Papile eventually slammed into the rear of the 1994 Toyota Corolla driven by Napolitano, sending her vehicle off the road and into a telephone pole and tree, prosecutors said.
Napolitano was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Papile’s front-seat passenger suffered a traumatic brain injury and remains seriously injured more than two years after the crash, according to prosecutors.
The stolen Land Rover spun out and came to rest in the center lane.
Prosecutors said Papile got out of the vehicle and ran.
Three Good Samaritans, including an off-duty Suffolk County police officer, chased after Papile and detained him until responding officers arrived.
Police said Papile showed signs of marijuana impairment at the scene. Prosecutors said he admitted smoking marijuana and consented to a blood test. Toxicology testing later detected THC in his system.
Investigators also recovered Instagram posts that prosecutors said showed Papile livestreaming his erratic driving leading up to the fatal crash.
Papile pleaded guilty Sept. 15 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, driving while impaired by drugs and reckless driving.
“Today’s guilty plea underscores the outrageous and utterly unacceptable decision to get behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle while impaired and drive recklessly through the streets of Suffolk County,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
Papile is scheduled to return to court Oct. 15 and is expected to be sentenced to six to 18 years in prison.
