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The Highway Superintendent Watched It

Thu, 06/23/2022 - 10:51

Five accidents were recorded on local roads in recent weeks, one of which, on June 13, was witnessed by East Hampton Town Superintendent of Highways Stephen Lynch.

B. Rodriguez-Garces of East Hampton was eastbound on Town Lane in Amagansett, driving a 2019 Toyota S.U.V., two cars behind an Amber Waves Farm truck that was slowing down. He thought it was stopping, he later told town police, and swerved to go around it, but in fact it was turning left, and he hit it. Its driver, Obsidian Lewinholmes, told police she’d signaled left just before she felt the collision.

Mr. Lynch was in the car between them, immediately behind the dump truck. Mr. Rodriguez-Garces passed him as he tried to get around Ms. Lewinholmes. Mr. Lynch watched, shocked, as the S.U.V. slammed into the side of the turning dump truck.

Ms. Lewinholmes and her passenger, Georgina Teuten, were both injured in the accident and were taken by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. Ms. Lewinholmes was treated for head pain, Ms. Teuten for neck pain. Both were released after treatment.

In Montauk that same morning, William Wilson, 64, a resident of the hamlet, was merging his 2020 Ford pickup into Flamingo Avenue traffic when he struck a 2021 Nissan headed east. Its driver, Jenny Montes of Palm Springs, Calif., 58, was traveling with Cesar Montes, 64, who complained of knee pain and was sent by ambulance to the hospital.

In the middle of the day on June 14, Don Kaplan of East Hampton, 87, was turning into Cedar Street from Osborne Lane when his 2019 Subaru S.U.V. struck a 2004 Toyota S.U.V. driven by M.J. Morazabaladelopz, 43, also of East Hampton. The collision caused the Toyota to spin into the oncoming lane of traffic, where it hit a third car, a 2010 Toyota S.U.V. driven by 18-year-old Andrew Dimopoulos. Ms. Morazabaladelopz, the sole occupant of her vehicle, sustained a neck injury and was taken to Southampton for treatment. Her car was towed by Hammer Towing.

Lilly Grace Norris, 19, was driving a 2013 Toyota S.U.V. on Glenmore Avenue in Montauk, where she lives, near Gravesend Avenue, when, she told an officer, she fell ill. She began to throw up, and while being sick, she drove off the road and into a utility pole. Ms. Norris complained of shoulder pain and received a nasty bruise, police said, but declined a trip to the hospital.

C.H. Gedinsky of New York City was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Woods Lane and Main Street on June 13, when his 2014 Mercedes was hit from behind by a Landscape Design truck, driven by Yolanda Bonilla of Riverhead. Mr. Gedinsky complained of shoulder pain but did not want to go to the hospital. Ms. Bonilla told village police she didn’t see the Mercedes ahead of her waiting for the light to change.

Long Days on the Fire Line In Orange County

East Hampton and Amagansett firefighters volunteered to head north last week to help fight a 5,000-acre wildfire in Orange County, N.Y., not once but twice, battling unfamiliar terrain to do so. “They fight fires completely differently than we do when we have a brush fire,” the Amagansett chief said.

Nov 21, 2024

Awards for Good Policing in Handgun Scuffle

“It could have gone worse. We’re lucky that I have officers here that weren’t shot,” said Police Chief Jeff Erickson at Friday’s East Hampton Village Board meeting. Chief Erickson was recognizing Sgt. Wayne Gauger and Officers John Clark and Robbie Greene for a traffic stop on Aug. 31 that turned into a scuffle and the eventual confiscation of an illegal gun.

Nov 21, 2024

On the Police Logs 11.21.24

A Three Mile Harbor Drive resident reported an online dating scam on the afternoon of Nov. 16. Somehow, said the 80-year-old man, a person on the dating platform had gotten his phone number and demanded $2,000 from him, threatening to tell his family he was using the site if he did not comply. Police told the man to block the number.

Nov 21, 2024

Head-On Collision on Route 27

A 2-year-old was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital following a head-on collision Saturday afternoon on State Route 27 near Upland Road in Montauk.

Nov 21, 2024

 

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