A Very Narrow Escape | The East Hampton Star

A pothole on Napeague came close last week to killing a motorcyclist, whose bike, after striking it, went down and skidded for about 100 yards, the length of a football field, across Montauk Highway.

East Hampton Town police said Carlos A. Buitrago of Springs, 27, was about a mile west of Napeague Meadow Road, headed west, when it happened, at about 10:40 a.m. on April 29. Man and motorcycle came to rest on the shoulder of the eastbound lane.

Mr. Buitrago lost consciousness temporarily, police said, and was unable to recall anything about the accident. Semiconscious and complaining of head pain, he was rushed by ambulance to Southampton Hospital. He was not listed as a patient there as of yesterday.

Potholes in that section of the highway, which have since been patched, were about two inches deep and often a foot or more wide.

The State Department of Transportation is repaving Route 27, in a project that began last month at the intersection of County Road 39 in Water Mill and is scheduled to conclude at Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton by Memorial Day. After Labor Day, the state will start work on the second part of the project, from Buell Lane in East Hampton to South Etna Avenue in Montauk. That section includes Napeague.

On the Police Logs 07.17.25

A man “with white hair and a blue jacket” took another patron’s phone during a movie at the Regal Cinema and said he would not return it. He later told police he’d taken the phone to “make a stand” because the owner was talking loudly on it during the movie.

Jul 17, 2025

Found With Coke in Cars

Two drivers were charged last week in unrelated cases with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after East Hampton Town police found bags containing a “white rock-like substance” in their vehicles.

Jul 17, 2025

Overturned by the Overlook

A Brooklyn man was arraigned recently on multiple misdemeanor charges related to a May 25 accident that injured four passengers in his Mercedes S.U.V., according to police.

Jul 17, 2025

Combs Verdict on Trafficking Is Examined

To Cate Carbonaro, executive director of the East Hampton advocacy organization the Retreat, who has worked extensively with victims of sex and labor trafficking as a public defender, the split verdict in the federal criminal trial of Sean (Diddy) Combs presents a “stark reminder of how far we still have to go” to educate both the courts and the public about what the “often misunderstood” charge of sex trafficking really means.

Jul 10, 2025

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