Hit-And-Run Aftermath

There has been at least one hit-and-run incident, and possibly two, in East Hampton Town in the past two weeks, both involving serious injuries to bicyclists. One resulted in the arrest of a motorist; the other is still under investigation.

In Southampton Town, meanwhile, a motorist died of injuries sustained in an accident. That story is covered elsewhere in this issue.

East Hampton Town police on May 28 arrested an East Hampton woman in connection with the first hit-and-run incident, which occurred five days earlier. A 70-year-old East Hampton man had been riding his bike along Buckskill Road around 7:45 p.m. when he was struck and knocked onto the street by a car traveling the same way.

Charles Kinsolving suffered serious head injuries and spent the next four days at Southampton Hospital. The driver took off without stopping.

Detective Work

Mr. Kinsolving could not describe the car that hit him, but police found significant evidence at the scene, including a side-view mirror. The Buzz Chew dealership was able to identify it as coming from a 1997 Oldsmobile Achiva.

Detectives visited the area's auto-body shops and rental-car agencies in the next several days, distributing fliers about the accident and asking employees to be on the lookout for a car matching the description..

They soon received a call from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Southampton, informing them a woman had recently rented the same make and model. The agency provided her name.

Detectives visited Cook/Pony Farm Realty, where the woman works. After executing a search warrant on the car and allegedly matching the mirror to it, police arrested Anne Tregellas, 62, of Huckleberry Lane, East Hampton.

She was charged with a felony count of leaving the scene of an accident and released on her own recognizance to appear in court July 17.

Memory Loss

The second incident has not been positively classified as a hit-and-run, although police believe a motorist may have been involved.

The bicyclist in that case was a 25-year-old East Hampton man, who was badly injured on Hand's Creek Road around 7 p.m. on May 28.

Jonathan Rudnick told police he could not remember what happened. He lost teeth and sustained other injuries in the accident, according to the case report, and spent two days at Southampton Hospital.

Police are investigating, but noted they were "unable to ascertain events surrounding [Mr. Rudnick's] injuries" at the time of the report, "due to memory loss."

Two More Bikes

Two other bicyclists were hit by cars this week, and both sustained minor injuries. The two accidents occurred last Thursday, within 10 minutes of each other.

The scene of the first was the Abraham's Path-Town Lane intersection in Amagansett, around 4:20 p.m. Thomas Devries of East Hampton told police he had stopped his car at the stop sign, headed north on Abraham's Path, before proceeding through the intersection. He did not see William Kiriazis approaching on his bicycle, he said.

The car and the bike collided at a right angle. Mr. Kiriazis, 53, was taken to Southampton Hospital complaining of back pain. He was released after treatment.

Ten minutes later, at the intersection of School Street and Springs-Fireplace Road in Springs, a 24-year-old cyclist, Josh Leeger of Springs, was knocked off his bike in a collision with a car driven by an 18-year-old, William Beltran of Springs.

The teen told police he was stopped at the stop sign, but that his foot slipped from the brake and he rolled into the path of the bicyclist. Mr. Leeger, complaining of neck pain, was treated in the emergency room and sent home afterward.

Two Cars

A two-car collision Sunday afternoon sent two others to the hospital with minor injuries. The rear-end collision occurred on Montauk Highway near Beech Street in Montauk.

Sophia Fisher of Florida was traveling east when the car ahead of her stopped to turn left. She stopped, but the car behind her, driven by Ronald Krum, also of Florida, did not. It struck Ms. Fisher's car. She and her passenger, Jennifer Clark, both complained of back pain and were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released.

Town police arrested five motorists during the week on drunken-driving charges. They were Jeffrey D. Anderson, 21, of Cornell Road, Sag Harbor; Charles C. McGarty, 18, of Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton; Kelly M. Wallace, 19, of Lincoln Avenue, Springs; Dennis M. Cassidy, 20, of Seaside Avenue, Montauk, and Michael J. Cerbelli, 31, of Lincoln Road, Montauk.

The first two were released on their own recognizance. The rest posted bail ranging from $150 to $750.

East Hampton Village police charged two out-of-town men, Frederick H. Williams, 39, of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Michael S. Stone, 47, of Manhattan, with driving while intoxicated early Sunday morning. Mr. Williams posted bail of $500; Mr. Stone was released on $350 bail.

Of 13 accidents reported in the village, only one resulted in a trip to the hospital, for both drivers involved. David A. Dottin of Sag Harbor and William M. Tortorella of Yonkers, N.Y., were released after treatment following a collision on Pantigo Road.

Mr. Dottin was driving east, police said, when his car was struck by Mr. Tortorella's. Mr. Tortorella was headed in the same direction, but driving on the shoulder of the road, trying to merge into traffic, the report said.