Driver charged with DWAI after serious Quogue crash, police say

Quogue police arrested a Westhampton Beach man and charged him with driving on drugs, they said, after a head-on collision Friday afternoon that seriously injured another man.

Police said Carmine J. Monteforte III, 40, was driving a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup truck headed east on Montauk Highway when he crossed over the double-yellow lines into the westbound lane near Quogue Street East and crashed into another pickup around 2:40 p.m.

Monteforte collided with a 1994 Ford F-250, seriously injuring a 60-year-old Mastic man, police said. That man was taken by a Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

Monteforte was not injured. He was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, aggravated unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said.

Police did not say what controlled substance Monteforte allegedly had.

He was held for arraignment at Quogue Village Justice Court. Both vehicles were impounded after the crash, police said.

It was not immediately clear if he was represented by an attorney.

Police are asking anyone with information about the crash to call 631-653-4791.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.