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Fiery Motorcycle Wreck on Napeague

Thu, 07/16/2020 - 12:42
A motorcyclist walked away mostly unhurt after dodging a collision and falling from his Kawasaki, which hit a guardrail and burst into flames.
Doug Kuntz

In a fiery 2 a.m. crash more dramatic than harmful, Matthew Porcelli's motorcycle erupted in flames on Sunday as he was riding east on Montauk Highway near Surf Drive in Amagansett.

Mr. Porcelli, 21, of Commack, told East Hampton Town police he had swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid a collision, lost control, and fell off the 2020 Kawasaki, which collided with a guard rail and burst into flames. The young man got off easy, with road rash to his back but no broken bones. 

Amagansett firefighters extinguished the flames, and an Amagansett Fire Department ambulance took Mr. Porcelli to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital to be checked out. He was released after treatment. 

On the afternoon of July 6, at the Route 27 intersection with Wainscott Northwest Road, Sergio Arnold Lopez, 38, of West Haven, Conn., driving a 2004 Ford Pickup truck, rear-ended Robert Edlund's 2004 Dodge. Neither Mr. Edlund, of Mastic Beach, nor Mr. Lopez required medical attention, though both Mr. Edlund and his passenger, Justin Knaptik, complained of neck pain.

Mouhamadou Gaye of East Hampton, 21, told town police he had fallen asleep at the wheel on Friday morning before running off the road at the intersection of Accabonac Road and Collins Avenue, into some small trees. He was driving an Enterprise Rent-a-Car, which was badly damaged and was towed by V&V Auto.

On the Police Logs 08.20.26

No crime was committed on Aug. 12 on Front Street in Springs, where police responded to a report that a man was holding a shotgun. Police said it was in fact a BB gun, which the man told them he uses to scare off squirrels and other small animals.

Aug 20, 2026

Montauk Art Show Targeted by Thieves

Just weeks after the sentencing of the woman who drunkenly drove through the Montauk Art Show last year, destroying many paintings, photographs, and handmade crafts, the event was targeted again, this time falling victim to thieves and vandals.

Aug 20, 2026

July Train Robber Brandished a Knife

Metropolitan Transportation Authority detectives have charged a Bronx man with robbery, saying that in East Hampton last month, he stole money from another train rider and then brandished a knife in his face.

Aug 20, 2026

Multiple Pileups as Labor Day Draws Near

East Hampton Town police reported multiple accidents last week as local roads fill up for the final weeks of summer.

Aug 20, 2026

 

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