Eleven accidents with 22 cars in just over five hours Saturday

It was a dangerous day on the streets of Riverhead today.

Eleven accidents occurred between 12:12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The accidents blanketed the town from Wading River Manor Road to Herricks Lane and they ranged from minor incidents to serious rollovers, one requiring a Suffolk County MedEvac helicopter.

An eastbound Nissan Titan pickup truck was rear-ended by an eastbound Mercury Mariner at the intersection of Route 25 and Herricks Lane at 12:12 p.m., police said.

There were two occupants in the Titan and one occupant in the Mariner. The occupant of the Mariner was uninjured, while Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported both occupants of the Titan to Peconic Bay Medical Center with minor injuries, according to police.

Traffic was closed on Route 25 between Manor Lane and Herricks Lane for about a half-hour.

Two hours later, a “distracted” driver of an eastbound Jeep Grand Cherokee crossed into oncoming traffic on Flanders Road, according to Southampton Town Police. The driver of a westbound Jeep Wrangler swerved in an attempt to avoid the Grand Cherokee but was hit, forcing the Wrangler to rollover into a utility pole on the north side of Flanders Road which snapped the pole in half, police said.

There was one person in the Grand Cherokee and two people in the Wrangler. Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps was called on mutual aid to assist Flanders-Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps with transporting all three victims to Peconic Bay Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.

John VanCrump, who lives about 100 yards away from the incident location, said he heard what sounded like an explosion from inside his house. 

“The way it sounded, I thought it was a head-on collision,” VanCrump said.

Another man was riding his bicycle through the intersection just seconds before the accident happened. 

“I had just rode through the intersection when I heard a loud bang,” Michael Smith said. “I jumped off my bike and ran to each vehicle to make sure they were alright.”

“I got past [the intersection] just in time. Thank God,” Smith said.

The accident occurred near the intersection on Old Quogue Road and Flanders Road. Traffic was diverted at Ludlam Avenue and Old Quogue Road while the vehicles were towed and power lines were removed from the roadway.

Shortly thereafter, a Ford van operated by Kristin Lysogorski was hit broadside by a Honda sedan operated by Oscar Lopez. The accident occurred just a few hundred feet east of the rollover at Old Quogue Road.

Lysogorski said she was headed westbound on Flanders Road when she saw the accident up ahead. She was moving into the turning lane in an effort to make a lefthand turn into a small parking lot. Lysogorski said that when she began to execute the lefthand turn, she was hit on the driver’s side.

“I don’t know where they came from or where they were going,” Lysogorski said. “We were all going fairly slow.”

The Honda sedan was in the westbound turning lane when it struck the van.

“[Lysogorski] never signaled,” Lopez said.

Nobody was injured in the accident.

Another rollover accident was reported at 2:56 p.m. at the intersection of Middle Country Road and Wading River Manor Road.

Robert Albertson, 51, of Bethpage, was headed south on Wading River Manor Road when he suffered an epileptic seizure. Albertson’s Nissan Altima careened off the road and into the woods on the southwest corner of Middle Country Road and Wading River Manor Road. The Altima rolled over and came to rest about 100 feet into the woods, according to police.

Albertson and his one passenger were both transported to Stony Brook University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Alberson was airlifted and the passenger was transported via Wading River Fire Department.

Wading River Fire Department heavy rescue was called to extricate the victims, according to police. 

The fire department also secured a landing zone at the former Grumman site for the MedEvac helicopter.

Traffic was diverted off of Middle Country Road for about an hour.

Other accidents today include:

10:30 a.m. Two vehicles at the intersection of Elton Street and Fishel Avenue. No Injuries.

1:25 p.m. Three vehicles on County Route 105 near Northville Turnpike.

1:28 p.m. Two vehicles on Northville Turnpike between Sound Avenue and County Route 105.

1:32 p.m. Two vehicles on Northville Turnpike south of Sound Avenue.

2:44 p.m. Two vehicles at the intersection of Northville Turnpike and Ostrander Avenue.

5:30 p.m. Two vehicles and a deer on sound Avenue near the 4H camp.

5:30 p.m. Two vehicles on Route 25A east of CVS. One vehicle rear-ended another. No injuries.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
Scroll down for all four photo slideshows.
Click thumbnails to enlarge images

Photos below are at Herricks Lane and Route 25.

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Photos below are at Flanders Road and Old Quogue Road.

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Photos below are on Flanders Road east of Old Quogue Road.

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Photos below are near Middle Country Road and Wading River Manor Road.

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