Two critically injured in accident on CR39 Monday morning

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Ryan Rozynski is led to his arraignment at Southampton Village Justice court Tuesday morning.

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An early morning accident on Memorial Day on County Road 39 in Southampton, which involved an 18-year-old driver who was later charged with DWI, left two people critically injured.

Chief Wilson said that the driver of the SUV, Ryan M. Rozynski, 18, of Shirley, was charged with DWI on Monday and is expected to be arraigned in Southampton Village Justice Court on Tuesday morning. He suffered minor injuries as a result of the accident and is currently in a holding cell at the Southampton Village Police Department.

The accident occurred at 4:20 a.m. Monday on the eastern side of the County Road 39 and North Sea Road intersection, just in front of the 7-Eleven.

According to Southampton Village Police Chief William Wilson Jr., a taxicab van from Hometown Taxi had been making a left turn off County Road 39 into the 7-Eleven parking lot when a Hyundai SUV smashed into its right side. It’s not yet clear how fast the SUV had been going, Southampton Village Detective Sergeant Herman Lamison said on Monday afternoon.

All three ambulances from the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps and two from the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to the accident to take six people to Southampton Hospital. Two passengers in the taxi, who suffered serious injuries, were later transported to Stony Brook University Medical Center, one by Medevac helicopter and one by ambulance. They are currently listed in critical condition, according to police.

On Monday afternoon, Det. Sgt. Lamison said that the two couples had been renting a group home in Southampton Town, though he would not say exactly where, and were returning there.

In a press release on Monday afternoon, Southampton Village Police said the accident is still under investigation and that additional charges are likely. They also noted that the driver of the taxicab van, whom police identified as 31-year-old Ihsan Peker of Southampton, was issued a summons for failure to obey a traffic device because he crossed over the double yellow line.

County Road 39 was closed for about six hours on Memorial Day as personnel from the Suffolk County Crime Lab investigated the scene.

“Upon first arrival of the police officers on the scene, there were several people lying in the roadway,” said Chief Wilson, noting that at least two passengers in the taxi had been ejected. Though he declined to speculate how fast the SUV had been going, adding that he was waiting for his detectives to issue a press release with that information, he did say that “it was a pretty good impact.”

According to Bryan DaParma, owner of Hometown Taxi, his driver had been waiting for customers at the Pink Elephant nightclub on County Road 39 in Southampton when two couples came out of the club looking for a ride home. He said the passengers asked Mr. Peker if they could stop at 7-Eleven before going to their final destination in Southampton Village. He did not know exactly where they were headed.

Mr. DaParma said that Mr. Peker, who was not seriously injured in the accident, said he made the left into the 7-Eleven parking lot when he had a green left-hand turn arrow at the light on County Road 39, and it was then that the SUV collided with the taxi carrying the four passengers.

“It was right at the worst possible spot,” he said. “They went out and did the right thing, because they didn’t want to get hurt and they didn’t want to hurt other people,” he said, referring to the passengers. “I’d hate to be the mother or the father of the people in the taxi ... It’s just a shame.”

At 8:30 a.m. the scene was left as it had been in the moments after the accident so personnel from the Suffolk County Crime Lab could investigate. The taxicab van was left with most of its right side missing, while the SUV was a short distance away with severe front-end damage. The airbags on both vehicles had been deployed.

Numerous objects were strewn about the sidewalk, including a shoe, a floor mat, a trunk, water bottles, bits of paper and several plastic bags, most of which had been marked with yellow evidence markers.

Several people at the scene on Monday morning watched in horror as the crime lab personnel conducted their investigation.

“I think it’s horrific,” said Melinda Gerard, a security guard at the 7-Eleven who is employed by the security company USPA Nationwide Security.

“The traffic has been insane this weekend,” said one woman, who asked to be identified by only her first name, Celeste. “Everybody was crazy this weekend. People forget you’re supposed to come to the Hamptons to relax.”