Update: Driver in Critical Condition After Northwest Woods Crash

Update, 4:34 p.m.:  East Hampton Town police released the name of the driver seriously injured in a car accident Sunday morning. Steven Lane, 25, of Hampton Bays is listed in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital.

After police took measurements at the scene for an accident reconstruction, they said he was driving south on Northwest Road in a 1989 Chevrolet pickup truck when he failed to navigate a turn in the road. The truck struck a tree on the west side of the road, not far from Alewife Brook Road. A passing bicyclist reported the accident just after 7 a.m. It was not clear when the accident occurred. 

The East Hampton Village Ambulance Association was going to medevac Mr. Lane to Stony Brook University Ambulance, but when the ambulance arrived at East Hampton Airport, the patient was deemed too critical to fly and was taken to Southampton Hospital by ambulance. Once stabilized, he was flown to Stony Brook University Hospital. 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the East Hampton Town Police Department at 631-537-7575. All calls will be kept confidential. 

Originally, 9:45 a.m.: A man was taken to the hospital in serious condition Sunday morning after his pickup truck went off the road in Northwest Woods, East Hampton Town Police Chief Michal Sarlo said.

Bicyclists spotted the pickup truck in the woods off Northwest Road near Alewife Brook Road and called 911 at about 7:05 a.m., East Hampton Fire Department Chief Ken Wessberg said. "It was right on that sharp corner," where motorists on Alewife Brook Road have to make a left to turn onto Northwest Road, not far from Cedar Point County Park. The pickup truck had gone into the woods and hit a tree and could not be seen by those passing in cars. "The million dollar question is how long had he been there?" the chief said.

The driver, the sole occupant, needed to be extricated from the truck, officials said. No other vehicles appeared to be involved in the crash. 

The Fire Department's heavy rescue squad used its equipment — the Jaws of Life, cutters and hydraulic rams — to extricate the man. The East Hampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Association had planned to airlift him to Stony Brook University Hospital, a level-one trauma center, but canceled the medevac and transported him instead to Southampton Hospital, which is a level-two trauma center. The man was reportedly airlifted to Stony Brook from Southampton Village later. 

Police are investigating how and when the accident occurred. Detectives were still on the scene two hours later performing an accident reconstruction.