Update: Police confirm hit-and-run crash that injured local man
UPDATE: Southampton Town police confirmed at 5 p.m. Monday that detectives are investigating an early Sunday incident in Flanders that seriously injured a 23-year-old man “as a hit and run accident.”
Police did not name the victim, who was identified by family Monday as Aaron Hartmann of Riverhead, or speak to the extent of his injuries.
Police said the man had “sustained injuries” and was found “in a disoriented state” just before 1 a.m. in the southbound side of County Road 105.
Flanders Volunteer Ambulance Corps volunteers responded to the scene for treatment and took Mr. Hartmann to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, police said.
Family members said he was later transported to Stony Brook University Medical Center where he underwent surgery and has been on a ventilator.
Stony Brook officials on Monday said Mr. Hartmann is in critical condition.
Detective are asking anyone with information to call (631) 702-2230.
ORIGINAL STORY: Southampton Town police officers are investigating a possible hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a 23-year-old Riverhead man early Sunday in Flanders, police and family said.
The incident, involved a vehicle and a pedestrian identified as Aaron Hartmann, family members said, happened about 1 a.m. along a stretch of County Road 105 called Cross River Drive.
Mr. Hartmann is being treated for injuries at Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he’s been on a ventilator and where his mother spent Mother’s Day sitting by his beside.
“I’m thinking somebody thought they hit a deer and kept going,” said Mr. Hartmann’s mother, Linda. “Or maybe they were drunk or didn’t have a license. With his injuries, I can’t picture somebody doing this [on purpose].”
They were able to save his leg, she said, but he suffered three broken bones. He underwent surgery and now has pins stabilizing the leg.
He also suffered facial fractures and doctors are trying to reduce swelling to the brain, she said Monday.
“He’s going to have some bleeding,” Ms. Hartmann said, adding that her son began to move a bit after hospital staff lightened his sedation.
“The nurse asked him something and Aaron gave him a thumbs up,” she said. “He definitely needs another surgery on his leg. He’s going to need to have therapy and learn how to walk again.”
Mr. Hartmann is currently listed in critical condition at Stony Brook University Medical Center, hospital officials said.
Friends and family have been circulating a photo on Facebook of Aaron Hartmann from his hospital bed, amid complaints that police officials and the media failed to report the incident sooner.
“Aaron’s has had some troubles, but he’s been doing well,” said an uncle, Bobby Hartmann, while mentioning his nephew’s prior arrests. Those include an August 2011 arrest in connection with an attempted robbery.
“He’s a well-mannered, good-hearted kid and he deserves better,” he added.
Southampton Town police Sergeant Lisa Costa would only say on Monday that the incident “is still under investigation.”
Bobby Hartmann said he and his family were let down by what the uncle described as a lack of communication from the police department. But, he said, relatives were relieved to hear from police Monday.
Ms. Hartmann said said she believed her son was walking home from a birthday party at the time he was injured. He was ready to start a new job in landscaping this Wednesday, she said, and his girlfriend is pregnant with the couple’s first child. The baby is due in three weeks, Ms. Hartmann said.
She also said her son had been hit by a drunken driver two years ago while walking on Flanders Road.
“It’s a very bad area” for pedestrians, she said.
In June 2011, then-13-year-old Rashad Jackson was seriously injured after being struck by a Chevy pickup truck while riding his bicycle westbound in the crosswalk on Flanders Road near County Road 105 in Flanders.
He recovered after a long stay at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla.
