The Hedges Inn on James Lane has once again been damaged by a vehicle swerving off the road, making this the second time in recent history. Just before 1 a.m. on Monday the 15th, a teen driver fleeing the police turned off his headlights and failed to clearly see and react to the sharp turn where Woods Lane connects with Main Street. This resulted in the car carrying its 18-year-old driver and three 17-year-old passengers directly into the front of the inn. The vehicle collided with the inn’s front steps and a load-bearing pillar on the patio, doing significant damage to the building’s façade but stopping short of the front windows.
The chase began when an officer noticed a black 2017 Infiniti sedan driving east along Montauk Highway near Judson Lane at around 90 miles per hour. The officer gave chase, and the driver, Nicholas A. Pitre, fled. After his fateful decision to turn off his headlights in an attempt to evade the police, the chase ended at the patio of the Hedges Inn.
East Hampton’s acting police chief, Jeff Erickson, said, “It’s usually someone from out of town who doesn’t realize the road ‘T’s there, adding that the 18-year-old behind the wheel was not affected by alcohol or drugs, but that he did have a fake ID. Pitre’s charges include reckless driving, fleeing a police officer, and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second decree. The latter charge is a felony. He is scheduled to be arraigned on February 7th at East Hampton Town Justice Court.
No serious injuries were reported, though all four of the car’s occupants were admitted to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. Erickson said, “The car took substantial damage. It had boards from the porch through it, any of which could have impaled the driver or his passengers. He was lucky.”
The vehicle had impacted the foundations of the building and embedded itself in the patio. Thomas Preiato, the village building inspector, was called out to the site of the crash at 1 a.m., as the police were worried that removing the car would cause the front of the building to collapse. Some of the building’s integral foundation stones had been displaced, and, according to Preiato, the integrity of the porch was “beyond compromised.” Indicating that a portion of the property’s lower fence was intact, Preiato implied that the car had gone airborne as it left the road.
The Hedges Inn was previously struck by another vehicle in November of 2022. That incident occurred when a driver fell asleep, and their vehicle went airborne. The car hit the side of the inn between two patios. Fortunately, there were also no serious injuries in this incident.
“Luckily, these two crashes have been in the middle of the night,” said Mr. Erickson. “During the day, drivers don’t have the same wide-open runway that we get on the overnight shifts. But people could be dining outside. A car going that way could be a catastrophe. We’ve been in conversation with the mayor to develop a long-term solution to rectify this issue.”
The Hedges Inn has been in contact with the mayor about long-term solutions. The mayor has reportedly discussed implementing the same kind of traffic safety nets used to stop runaway trucks on the highways.
