Five killed including two brothers in head-on Uber crash in the Hamptons

Five people – including three college friends in their 20s – were killed when a speeding car crossed a median and slammed head-on into their Uber as they went dancing after a family housewarming party in the Hamptons on Saturday night.

Brothers Michael O. Farrell, 20, and James P. Farrell, 25, their friend Ryan J. Kiess, 25, and Uber driver Farhan Zahid, 32, of Bay Shore were pronounced dead at the scene after the crash on Montauk Highway, in Quogue, a village on eastern Long Island.

Kiess’s girlfriend of six years Brianna M. Maglio, 22, was the only survivor and is in critical condition.

The group had been heading out to go dancing after a housewarming party at Kiess’s parents’ new home.

The driver of the other car – Justin B. Mendez, 22 of Brookhaven – was also killed.

Police say his Nissan Maxima veered across the center line of Montauk Highway around 11.15pm and struck Zahid’s Uber – a Toyota Prius – head-on. Cops say they believe he was speeding at the time.   

Kiess’ father, Kurt, said the group was celebrating the family’s purchase of a new home in Remsenburg that night. 

Ryan Kiess, 25, was killed in a crash on Long Island Saturday night when an Uber full of passengers he was taking was involved in a head-on collision. His girlfriend Brianna Maglio, 22, was the only survivor and is in critical condition

Ryan Kiess, 25, was killed in a crash on Long Island Saturday night when an Uber full of passengers he was taking was involved in a head-on collision. His girlfriend Brianna Maglio, 22, was the only survivor and is in critical condition 

‘It was our first party. My son was so proud of that house,’ he told Patch. ‘All of his friends were in the cottage, playing games and dancing. They helped clean up and then they called an Uber to go dancing. He walked into the living room and got into the car— and that was the last time I saw my son.’ 

‘You see these things on the news and you say, “That’s somebody else” — and then it becomes your family,’ he added.   

Kiess and the elder Farrell had been classmates through elementary and high school and had played lacrosse together. 

Ryan’s mother, Nina, told Newsday: ‘Gentle heart, gentle giant,’ he said, noting that his son, the middle of three, was six-foot-three. ‘He died with two of his friends. … He loved Brianna. He loved his family, friends and the community.’

Kiess had studied accounting, and had been recently promoted at the firm KPMG. Maglios works as an intensive care neonatal nurse at New York- Presbyterian Hospital. 

The Kiess family said they had taken the Uber at around 10.30pm to go out after the housewarming party. 

Kriess, his girlfriend and two friends who were brothers had taken an Uber to go out dancing, his parents said

Kriess, his girlfriend and two friends who were brothers had taken an Uber to go out dancing, his parents said 

‘It’s surreal. I’m in shock still. You never want your children to predecease you,’ Nina Kiess told Newsday. ‘It breaks our heart. We see this happen on TV. … Then all of a sudden, boom, you have it happen to you. It’s like a nightmare. It’s a nightmare.’ 

Her son’s girlfriend, she said, was, ‘the best, fun-loving, sweetest, young, beautiful, respectful, loyal [person with] a lot of energy.’

Kiess and Maglio, who is fighting for her life in hospital, met at the University of Scranton, where the two played Lacrosse, and had been dating for six years. 

Bill Cherry, a former boys lacrosse coach at Manhasset High School had coached both Farrells and Kiess, and said they were exceptional people. 

The group was traveling along Montauk Highway (pictured) when a Nissan Maxima driven by Justin Mendez veered across the median and struck the Uber head-on

The group was traveling along Montauk Highway (pictured) when a Nissan Maxima driven by Justin Mendez veered across the median and struck the Uber head-on

‘These were great kids, three-sport athletes, who played football, basketball and lacrosse … This is so senseless, so heartbreaking,’ he told the outlet. 

Cherry noted that by calling an Uber the group had been playing it safe that night, but still perished regardless, and called the crash ‘senseless.’

‘They were doing the right thing and being smart and getting a ride to meet friends and then this happens,’ he said. ‘You’re so happy that your kids are doing the right thing and then you wonder why and how something like this happens?’ 

source: dailymail.co.uk