Police

Cops: Manorville man air-lifted after crash; Cutchogue woman charged with DWI

Two accidents were reported on County Road 51 early Saturday morning. (Credit: Google Maps)
Two accidents were reported on County Road 51 early Saturday morning. (Credit: Google Maps)

A Cutchogue woman crashed into an unoccupied Southampton Town police car early Saturday morning on a closed roadway in Manorville as police and firefighters were responding to a single-car accident that seriously injured a Manorville man, Southampton Town police said.

Lisa Rizzo, 23, was arrested for driving while intoxicated and taken to a local hospital for minor injuries after crashing into the police car at 3:30 a.m. on County Road 51, police said.

Police said Ms. Rizzo drove a 2005 Honda Civic past a flared road closure and a police officer directing traffic before colliding with the police car in the northbound lane.

County Road 51 remained closed until about 7 a.m., police said.

The initial accident occurred at 1:47 a.m., when a 38-year-old man lost control of a 2005 Toyota Prius while driving south on County Road 51, just south of Speonk-Riverhead Road. He sideswiped a guardrail along the southbound lane, crossed over the median and the northbound lane before crashing into a tree along the northbound shoulder.

The vehicle was found laying on its side with its roof crushed in, leaning against a tree, police said.

Riverhead Fire Department volunteers extricated the man from the vehicle and he was treated on scene by Flanders-Northampton Ambulance volunteers before being flown via Medevac to Stony Brook University Medical Center.

His identification was being withheld pending notification of family, police said.

The crash remains under investigation, police said. The car in the initial crash was impounded for further investigation and the two cars in the second crash sustained significant damage and required two tow trucks to remove them from the scene, police said.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact Southampton Town police at 631-728-5000, the detective division at 631-702-2230 or the crime hotline at 631-728-3454. All calls will be kept confidential.

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