Crime & Safety
Deputy Sheriff Injured in Chain-Reaction Collision Tuesday
Two separate rear-end accidents affected County Road 39 traffic, plus a one-car accident in Bridgehampton is attributed to icy roads.
A deputy sheriff went to the hospital for a minor neck and back injury Tuesday, according to the Suffolk County sheriff's office, after she was a victim in a chain-reaction collision on County Road 39 in Southampton — one of a number of accidents that morning.
“Our unit was traveling eastbound on County Road 39 at 6:54 a.m.," said Debbie Hallock, an administrator with the sheriff's office. A school bus headed west stopped and put its lights on, so both the sheriff's deputy and the driver one car ahead stopped, she said; however, two cars back a driver failed to stop and started the collision. “One rear ended and just pushed all the other ones,” she said.
Hallock said the deputy sheriff will miss a couple days of work, but her injuries were not severe. A pregnant woman from one of the other three vehicles was also checked out at the hospital as a precaution, but released without injury, she added.
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The accident occurred to the west of the Tuckahoe Lane intersection, and eastbound traffic during the morning commute was backed up while the vehicles were cleared from the roadway; a white SUV was taken away on a wrecker around 7:40 a.m.
Just as the first accident was being cleared up, a second County Road 39 rear-end crash occurred to the west. Southampton Town Police Sgt. Michael Joyce said that at 7:45 a.m. a crash was reported near the intersection with Hills Station Road. A driver in a 1997 Honda in the left eastbound lane struck a 2002 Kia, he said. One vehicle had to be towed, but no injuries were reported. The driver of the Honda, a 19-year-old Riverhead man, was cited for driving without a license.
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Earlier that morning, Southampton Town police responded to another crash, this one in Bridgehampton.
At 5:11 a.m. Tuesday, the driver of a 2003 Honda lost control on the ice while traveling eastbound on Head of Pond Road, near the Narrow Lane intersection, Joyce said. The Honda came to rest on its driver's side, and Bridgehampton Fire Department responded. The driver, a 36-year-old Hampton Bays woman, was not taken to the hospital.
