Sleeping Driver Suspected

An S.U.V. rolled over on the Napeague stretch of Montauk Highway, west of the Lobster Roll restaurant, on June 11, injuring the driver. The single-car accident happened at about 1:05 p.m.

The 20-year-old driver, Andy J. Amando, who said he had been wearing a seatbelt, was already out of his 2002 Mitsubishi when police arrived. He was conscious, but bleeding severely from his head, according to an East Hampton Town police accident report. 

The Amagansett Fire Department’s on-duty paramedic treated Mr. Amando for a head injury, and the ambulance took him to the East Hampton Airport, where a medevac helicopter airlifted him to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was treated and subsequently discharged.

Mr. Amando, who has addresses in Montauk and Phoenix, told police he thought he fell asleep at the wheel. According to the accident report, Anthony Bowen, a witness, said he was driving east when Mr. Amando’s S.U.V. approached him from behind “rapidly, almost touching his rear bumper.” Mr. Amando’s vehicle then drifted into the opposite lane and overturned, just east of Shipwreck Drive.

Police also indicated on the report that an unsafe speed was also a contributing factor. No tickets were issued.

Wayne Gauger, the second assistant chief with the fire department, said the S.U.V. appeared to have rolled one and a half times and landed on its side. Its roof was dented in. There were no passengers.