Police: Drunk Driver From Cutchogue Plows Into Unoccupied Police Car as Officers Investigate Accident

Police are investigating two accidents in Northampton early Saturday, one of which occurred when a drunk driver crashed into an unoccupied police car as officers were on the scene of the first accident, police said.

According to police, at about 1:47 a.m. the Southampton Town Police Department, along with members of the Flanders Northampton Ambulance and the Riverhead Fire Department responded to a report of a single-car accident in the northbound lane of County Route 51 between Old Moriches Road and Speonk-Riverhead Road.

Investigation revealed that a 38-year-old Manorville man was operating a 2005 Toyota Prius southbound on County Route 51, south of Speonk-Riverhead Road when, for reasons still under investigation, he lost control of the vehicle, sideswiped the guardrail along the southbound lane, crossed over the median, then the northbound lane of travel before crashing into a tree on the northbound shoulder of the road, police said.

The vehicle was found laying on its side, with its roof crushed in leaning against a tree, with significant damage, according to police.

The victim, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of family, was extricated from the vehicle by the Riverhead Fire Department, treated on the scene by Flanders-Northampton Ambulance and then flown to Stony Brook University Hospital by a Suffolk Police helicopter, according to police.

Police closed the roadway and began their investigation, when at about 3:30 a.m., this was interrupted by a separate accident at the location, according to police.

A northbound vehicle drove through the flared road closure, past a police officer directing traffic, and collided with an unoccupied Southampton Town Police vehicle, according to police.

The drive of that vehicle, Lisa A . Rizzo, 23, of Cutchogue, was found to be intoxicated, police said.

She was placed under arrest for DWI and taken to a local area hospital for treatment for minor injuries sustained in the accident.

The Southampton Town Police and the New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated the accident.

The vehicle involved in the initial accident was impounded for further investigation.

Both the police car and the other vehicle involved in the second accident, a 2005 Honda Civic, sustained significant damage and required tow trucks to remove them from the scene, according to police.

The investigation is ongoing. Southampton Town Police detectives ask anyone with information on this incident or any incident to call the Southampton Town Police Department at 631-728-5000, the Southampton Town Police Detective Division at 631-702-2230, or the Crime Hotline at 631-728-3454 or send an e-mail to crimetips@southamptontownny.gov.