Renowned Chef, Cookbook Author Anna Pump Struck, Killed by Pickup Truck in Bridgehampton

Renowned chef and author Anna Pump was killed after she was hit by a car in Bridgehampton on Monday evening, according to Southampton Town Police.

According to police, Luis Ortega, 40, of Water Mill, was driving a 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup truck westbound on Montauk Highway when he struck Pump, 81, of Sag Harbor, who was walking in a northerly direction in the crosswalk located by the Bridgehampton Post Office, according to police.

Pump was transported by Bridgehampton Volunteer Ambulance to Southampton Hospital where she pronounced dead a while later, police said.

Pump was the founder of Loaves & Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton and the author of several cookbooks. She also co-owned The Bridgehampton Inn.

Ortega was arrested and charged with circumventing an interlock device, unlicensed operation, and failing to yield for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, police said.

He was processed, sent for medical treatment, and is due back in court in November, according to police.

Ortega was arrested on a DWI charge in 2012 and he was charged with second degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and circumventing an interlock device after an accident in Southampton Village in 2013.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash to contact the Detective Squad at 631-702-2230 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.