ULSTER COUNTY, N.Y. - A groom and his friend, both of whom were off-duty NYPD officers, were killed in a single-car crash after leaving a wedding in Ulster County, New York, police said Monday.
The crash happened just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday on Oliveria Road in Shandaken. A local resident who heard but did not witness the crash called 911.
John M. Martinez, 39, of Hauppauge, was likely behind the wheel of a 2018 Maserati, which he had rented, according to New York State Police.
The car veered off the road and struck a large tree before overturning and coming to rest on its roof, police said.
Martinez and the groom, Michael Colangelo, 31, of Huntington Station, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police.
There was a partial ejection, and both men were likely not wearing a seatbelt, police said.
A third man, who used a seatbelt and sat in the backseat, survived but suffered a head injury, according to police, who said they conducted a preliminary interview with him but will speak to him again once he is more lucid.
The three men were about a mile from where Colangelo's wedding took place when they crashed.
Police said they were not driving toward any specific destination, and noted the reception took place at a venue that often hosts people for the night.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but police said speed was likely a factor. The narrow, winding road in which they crashed has a speed limit of 40 mph.
Autopsies will be performed on both officers, and a toxicology report will determine if they had been drinking, police said.
When asked how Colangelo's widow was, police said she was "grief-stricken."
Martinez was an officer with the 84 Precinct's Detective Squad, policing Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, and Vinegar Hill. Colangelo was assigned to the K-9 Unit.
