Photo by Joe Turner After suffering what police said was a diabetic shock, a 27-year-old Holbrook man struck several cars along Sunrise Highway and then smashed into a 2005 Ford Focus, driven by Timothy Brosnan, 66, of Asharoken Blvd., Bay Shore. Brosnan was fatally injured in the accident, which tied up traffic in the westbound lane of Sunrise Highway for hours on Monday, February 20.

Police said that Joseph Peterson, 27 of Dougherty Avenue, Holbrook was driving a 1996 Infinity west on Sunrise Highway at approximately 1:20 p.m., when he apparently blacked out at the wheel of his vehicle in what police said was an apparent incident of diabetic shock. Unable to control his vehicle, he struck several cars in a series of crashes beginning in Amityville and coming to a halt in the fatal crash near the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa after passing a red light and striking Brosnan’s car. Peterson, and his two daughters, who were in the vehicle at the time, survived the crash. Peterson was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where his blood was drawn. The Nassau County Homicide Squad said on Friday that they were still awaiting the final toxicology reports to determine exactly what happened, but added that Peterson had recently had a kidney transplant and became confused and disoriented due to a low blood sugar.

Diabetics can suffer from low blood sugars under certain circumstances, including if they take too much medication such as insulin, or if they take their medication and do not eat, or do not eat enough. Low blood sugars can also result if they exercise strenuously or undergo stress. They are generally associated with cold sweats, shakes and an increased heart beat, as their sugar levels drop. If not treated, the symptoms worsen, leading to shock, and even death if left untreated.

It wasn’t until almost 7 p.m. that Sunrise Highway was opened to traffic. In the interim, motorists took alternate routes, traveling through Massapequa and Amityville along Route 110, Merrick Road, and the side streets leading to those main north/south and east/west thoroughfares.

“There was a tremendous amount of traffic especially on Route 110, but we had no major problems,” said Amityville Village Police Chief Woodrow Cromarty.