A police chase just before 1 a.m. Monday ended with a car full of teenagers crashing into the Hedges Inn in East Hampton. No one was seriously injured in the crash, but it was the second time in just over a year that the inn on James Lane sustained significant damage from a vehicle.
According to Jeff Erickson, East Hampton Village’s acting police chief, an officer observed the black 2017 Infiniti four-door sedan driving eastbound at about 90 miles per hour near Judson Lane on Montauk Highway and gave chase. The 18-year-old driver, Nicholas A. Pitre of West Islip, made a run for it, the acting chief said, turning his headlights off to evade the officer, and was unable to react to the sharp 90-degree turn where Woods Lane meets Main Street.
“It’s usually someone from out of town who doesn’t realize the road T’s there. The driver was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” said Mr. Erickson. In addition to several traffic infractions, charges included reckless driving and fleeing a police officer, both misdemeanors. “He also had a fake ID,” the acting chief said, so the driver was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, a felony. He is to be arraigned at East Hampton Town Justice Court on Feb. 7.
The three passengers, all 17 years old, were transported by ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. The driver did not go to the hospital initially, but was later transported there and admitted. Mr. Erickson had no update on his injuries.
“The car took substantial damage. It had boards from the porch through it, any of which could have impaled the driver or his passengers. He was lucky,” said Mr. Erickson.
The car was so deeply embedded that Thomas Preiato, the village building inspector, was called to the site at 1 a.m. because the police were concerned that extracting the car could cause the front of the inn to collapse.
“The integrity of the porch is beyond compromised,” he said in a phone call. Fortunately, he said, the whole front of the building had previously been reinforced with a steel beam. A good thing, because a couple of foundation stones were pushed as the car hit the porch “which normally would be disastrous,” he said. “The car was airborne. A portion of the lower section of the fence was still intact, meaning it went over it.”
In November 2022, a livery driver fell asleep at the wheel and also went airborne, ending up on the side of the inn, between two patios. He too suffered only minor injuries.
“I’ve been speaking with Mayor [Jerry] Larsen about some sort of solution here,” Jenny Lilja, the innkeeper, said by phone. “At this point I’m worried someone is going to get seriously injured or die. Everyone understands there’s a real problem that needs to be corrected. Ideas are welcome.”
“Luckily these two crashes have been in the middle of the night,” said Mr. Erickson. “During the day drivers don’t have the same wide-open runway that we get on the overnight shifts. But people could be dining outside. A car going that way could be a catastrophe. We’ve been in conversation with the mayor to come up with a long-term solution that will rectify this issue.”
“I think the answer would be a traffic safety net,” Mayor Larsen said via text. “It’s used in places to stop runaway large trucks. We could install something like that and hide it in plantings. Of course, it would have to be approved by the state if we placed it on public property. We have to do something to protect the Hedges Inn and its patrons, as well as the drivers that cause these accidents. I don’t think a hard structure is the answer. That would be a death sentence for a driver.”