Drunken-Driving Arrest After East Hampton Crash

A Queens man who allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel was arrested on a drunken-driving charge in connection with an accident in East Hampton Village that left three others critically injured, police said. 

East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said Jungsik Lee, 60, of Elmhurst, was heading west on Pantigo Road near Gay Lane after a fishing trip in Montauk when his 2005 Nissan Quest minivan veered off the road into a lamppost and hit a tree on the north side of the road on Sunday at about 4:30 p.m.

The East Hampton Fire Department volunteers had to cut part of the minivan to extricate the passengers, one of whom was so critically injured that police still do not know his identity. Two of them were airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital immediately after the accident, and a third man, who was taken to Southampton Hospital, later slipped into critical condition and was transferred to Stony Brook. Duk Ju Oh, 67, Dong Won Lee, 56, and the unidentified man are all believed to be from Elmhurst, the chief said. 

Mr. Lee was taken to Southampton Hospital for a leg laceration and neck pain. An officer interviewing him there smelled "an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath," according to the arrest report. He consented to have his blood drawn, police said, and it has been sent to the Suffolk County Crime Lab for testing. "We'll see what the blood results bring," Chief Larsen said. 

Mr. Lee has been charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. "There are no skid marks," Chief Larsen said. "The driver apparently fell asleep."  

He was admitted to the hospital; it is unclear when he will be arraigned on the D.W.I. charge.

Pantigo Road was closed between Gay Lane and Accabonac Road for seven and a half hours, until midnight, while detectives from both the village and town police reconstructed the accident, Chief Larsen said.