Accidents Mar Holiday: One Dead, Infant Hurt

It was a bad week for holiday drivers.

Three people remained hospitalized as of yesterday with serious injuries sustained the night before Thanksgiving in a four-car accident on East Hampton's Main Street.

On Thanksgiving Day at twilight, icy roads were blamed for a series of accidents in Southampton Town, including one that left a 5-month-old girl with a fractured skull.

And in Water Mill, a Southampton man was killed Saturday night when his truck slid off a road into an embankment and overturned.

Veered Into Traffic

One of those hurt in the Main Street collision, Herbert K. (Smokey) Anderson 3d of Accabonac Highway, East Hampton, 45, was charged with driving while intoxicated, which East Hampton Village police said was the cause of the accident. An additional charge of vehicular assault, a felony, is possible.

At about 11:30 p.m., police said, Mr. Anderson's van, headed north near the East Hampton Cinema, veered across Main Street and into oncoming traffic, where it struck a Volvo driven by Pierre L. Schoenheimer of East Hampton.

Robert A.M. Stern of East Hampton and Manhattan was just pulling out of a parking space when the Volvo, propelled backward by the force of the collision, hit his B.M.W. The B.M.W. in turn was pushed into a parked car, an Isuzu registered to Mark W. Tuthill of Springs. No one was in the Isuzu.

Arduous Rescue

Main Street between Huntting and Newtown Lanes was closed to traffic for more than two hours while the East Hampton Fire Department's heavy rescue team, the White Knights, worked to get Mr. Schoenheimer, his wife, Idee Schoenheimer, and her parents, Meyer and Beatrice German, out of the Volvo.

Rescue workers had to remove all four doors and the roof of the car to extricate its occupants, according to East Hampton Fire Department Chief Jim Dunlop.

Passengers Hospitalized

Freeing the trapped driver was the biggest challenge, said Mr. Dunlop. The left front of the car took the brunt of the collision.

"Everything we did hurt Mr. Schoenheimer," Mr. Dunlop said.

Mr. Schoenheimer, 63, was taken to Southampton Hospital with a possible broken femur among his injuries and then to Stony Brook Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition on Tuesday. Mrs. Schoenheimer, 45, was admitted to Stony Brook but discharged several hours later, on Thanksgiving Day.

Mr. German, 82, was listed in fair condition at Southampton Hospital on Tuesday. His wife, also 82, was in stable condition at Stony Brook.

Mr. Stern, the architect, reported no injuries at the scene.

Mr. Anderson, who was discharged Sunday from Stony Brook, was able to get out of his car on his own steam, but was unconscious when the ambulance took him away. Police said he submitted to a blood test at Southampton Hospital. Mr. Anderson has no record of alcohol-related offenses.

Five Ambulances

A Montauk ambulance on its way back from Southampton Hospital was one of the first emergency vehicles on the scene. Two East Hampton ambulances and one each from Amagansett and Springs also took the injured to Southampton.

"I don't remember a call where we used five ambulances," Mr. Dunlop said. He added that "nobody ever envisioned a collision of that magnitude on Main Street," where traffic is relatively slow, and Village Police Chief Glen Stonemetz agreed.

Altogether, about 25 ambulance personnel and 50 members of the Fire Department responded to the accident.

Mr. Anderson's van and Mr. Schoenheimer's Volvo were impounded for safety inspections, which police said revealed nothing. Both drivers were ticketed for expired inspection stickers, and Mr. Anderson was additionally ticketed for crossing into oncoming traffic.

Mr. Dunlop remarked that the Volvo had stood up to the collision remarkably well. "I don't think many other cars stand up to what happened to that car," he said.

Infant Injured

A harrowing two hours on Thanksgiving night, during which Southampton roads froze over and created a potentially deadly sheet of black ice, caused several serious accidents. The worst occurred on Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Shortly after 8 p.m., Southampton Town police said, a Ford truck headed west with Gary Krogman of Mattituck, 30, at the wheel, veered into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head-on.

A 5-month-old infant in the other car, Nicole Padden, suffered a fractured skull and possible internal head injuries. The baby was taken first to Southampton Hospital and then to Stony Brook University Medical Center, which, however, could not confirm her admission.

Previous D.W.I.

Mr. Krogman, police said, had been drinking; he allegedly failed several roadside sobriety tests. He was charged with driving while intoxicated.

The charge will likely be upgraded to a felony; police said he had a previous D.W.I. on his record.

Capt. Anthony Tenaglia said additional charges may be lodged depending on the extent of the baby's injuries. The District Attorney is reviewing the case, he added.

Water Mill Fatality

The Water Mill crash that killed Ian Carl Frankel, 30, happened on Cobb Road. Southampton Town police said Mr. Frankel had lost control of his 1996 Ford Explorer before the car pitched over an embankment.

Mr. Frankel and a passenger, Sean Daly, were rushed to the Southampton Hospital emergency room, where Mr. Daly was treated and later released. Another passenger in the car, Aaron Gill, complained of pain but declined emergency treatment.

A graduate of the Millbrook (N.Y.) School and Skidmore College, Mr. Frankel was vice president of advertising for Hamptons magazine. An active volunteer for Southampton Hospital, he was a past chairman of its junior committee benefit.

He leaves his mother, Jacqueline Goodwin of Southampton, two sisters, Elizabeth and Amanda Frankel, his stepfather, Todd Goodwin, and two stepsisters, Alix and Leslie Goodwin.