PECONIC MAN INDICTED FOR AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE IN FATAL SINGLE CAR CRASH

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the indictment of Kyle Flanagan, who is accused of a top count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide. It is alleged that Flanagan was intoxicated when he crashed a 2019 Ford Ranger into a tree on Wells Road in Peconic. The impact killed Brian Clinton, a 22-year-old back seat passenger, and seriously injured the front seat passenger, Malcolm Pakola, also 22. The three were lifelong friends who were visiting the hamlet for the weekend.

“This defendant’s dangerous and deadly actions allegedly caused the untimely death of a young man who was just beginning his adult life. This should have been a time of great joy for these young men,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Instead, a weekend that was supposed to be fun ended in tragedy.”

Flanagan, 22, is charged with:

• Two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a Class B felony;
• Two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Assault, a Class C felony;
• One count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class C felony;
• Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D Violent felony;
• One count of Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, a Class U misdemeanor;
• Two counts of Driving While Intoxicated, a Class U misdemeanor;
• One count of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, a Class U misdemeanor; and
• One count of Reckless Driving, a Class U misdemeanor.

According to court documents, on August 20, 2022 at approximately 5:49 a.m. Flanagan, after allegedly staying up all night drinking, drove a 2019 Ford Ranger while he was intoxicated by alcohol. The defendant was driving southbound on Wells Road when he drove off the road and onto a lawn and crashed into a tree. The impact crushed the front of the vehicle and caused serious physical injury to his front seat passenger, Pakola. Pakola who was transported via ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center where he was diagnosed with a right femur fracture that required surgery. Clinton, the back seat driver, had to be extricated from the vehicle by emergency responders. Clinton was rushed to Eastern Long Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Flanagan was allegedly found sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, slumped over the steering wheel, in a semiconscious state with the odor of alcohol on his breath. The defendant also had to be extricated from the vehicle and was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

On November 21, 2022, Flanagan was arraigned on the indictment before the Honorable Richard Ambro. Flanagan’s bail of $25,000 was posted and his license has been suspended. His next court date is scheduled for January 17, 2023.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Gellar and Assistant District Attorney Daniel P. Cronin Jr. of the Vehicular Crime Bureau.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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