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Blinded by the Evening Sun

Thu, 09/12/2024 - 11:42

A car flipped over on Montauk Highway near Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton on Sept. 3, following a collision that resulted in multiple hospitalizations.

Gloricelda Velasquez-Valasquez, an unlicensed Wainscott driver, was headed east in a 2009 Nissan at around 7 p.m. when, she told town police through a Spanish interpreter, the sun’s glare blinded her as she as she began turning left onto Stephen Hand’s path.

The Nissan cut in front of Carlos Guerrero Arias of the Bronx, who was traveling west in a 2020 Ram van. He told police he was unable to avoid a collision. His car flipped over before coming to rest on its side.

All occupants of the Nissan were injured. It was unclear how many passengers had been in the car, but it took two village ambulances to transport them to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. The Ram’s driver, Mr. Guerrero Arias, was not hurt.

Police reported that both cars involved were registered to other people, individuals who were not driving at the time. Additionally, the two vehicles were towed by Emergency Mechanical Service.

Earlier that same day, at around noon, a Lindenhurst resident, who was driving a 2020 Toyota pickup truck north on East Hampton Main Street near David’s Lane, suddenly cut across the lane, hitting a line of parked cars.

Robert Neumann IV told village police he was looking at his GPS when he noticed a vehicle ahead pulling out from a parallel parking spot. He “jerked the steering wheel to the left,” he said, and the truck swerved into the opposite lane, striking a parked car on the opposite side of the street. That began a chain reaction involving four more cars. Mr. Neumann told police he’d passed out at some point, but could not recall when. The accident report does not say whether he was injured.

The pickup truck was transported by Hammer Towing to their lot in Wainscott.

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