CRIME BRIEFS

East Hampton/Police ID body in submerged car

Investigators are looking into the death of a 90-year-old man whose body was recovered from a car that plunged off a bulkhead on Gann Road into Three Mile Harbor on Wednesday afternoon in East Hampton, police said.

Police yesterday identified the victim as Halsey L. Dickinson Jr., an East Hampton resident. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

In a news release, East Hampton Town police said Dickinson's 2004 Subaru was seen speeding through the parking lot and striking a pylon before going into the water at 2:29 p.m.

Divers from area fire departments as well as East Hampton police, members of the East Hampton marine patrol and U.S. Coast Guard, and East Hampton volunteer ocean rescue swimmers searched for the vehicle, with the assistance of a Suffolk County police helicopter, authorities said.

Divers recovered the body about 4 p.m., police said in the release.

The vehicle will undergo a safety inspection, police said.

The Suffolk County medical examiner is also investigating the death.

Freeport/Shot man gets weapons charge

A Freeport man was arrested on a weapons charge after officers saw him "exit his car and then collapse on the pavement" with a gunshot wound Wednesday night, police said.

Investigators do not know whether Ellis C. Gittens, 21, of 148 Bedell St., shot himself in his right upper leg or was shot by others, police said.

Gittens was treated at Nassau University Medical Center and later placed under arrest, police said. He was arraigned at the hospital yesterday on charges of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree possession of a dangerous weapon. Bail will not be set until he is ready to be released from the hospital.

The investigation is continuing.