S.U.V. Crashes 60 Feet Into Woods on North Haven

A woman was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital Saturday with serious injuries after the vehicle in which she was a passenger drove off the road and into the woods on North Haven. 

The sport utility vehicle carrying a family of four, including two children and a dog, was found about 60 feet in the woods by Route 114 and Sunset Beach Road, according to Bruce Schiavoni, the first assistant chief of the Sag Harbor Fire Department. A 911 call was received at about 1:55 p.m. 

Chief Schiavoni said he and a paramedic working for the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps were the first to arrive. A female passenger had the worst injuries, and reports from police were that she had a fractured skull. They were able to get the door open to the badly damaged S.U.V. to gain access to her. The chief said it appeared the S.U.V. had rolled once, but that it looked as if it had been driven straight through the woods. "I have no idea how they made it that far," he said, adding that it is a heavily wooded area. 

The chief called an engine and the heavy rescue squad to cut down trees and clear a path in the woods so that the ambulance crew could carry the woman out of the woods on a backboard. The ambulance took her to Havens Beach, where a medevac helicopter landed to take her to Stony Brook, the nearest level-one trauma center. 

The male driver and the children were taken to Southampton Hospital. 

Southampton Town police are investigating the crash.

The chief said one lane of Route 114 was kept open the entire time, but traffic was backed up in the area due to the accident.