Four LI men injured in Rhode Island crash

A Salve Regina University student from Massapequa drove his sport utility vehicle into a wall near the main gates of the famed Breakers mansion in Newport, R.I., Thursday morning, seriously injuring himself and his three Long Island passengers, police said.

Michael Canning crashed his Hyundai SUV at 1:38 a.m., Newport Police Lt. William Fitzgerald said, hitting a wall about a mile from where the Rhode Island university dormitories are located. All four are 19-year-old sophomores, police said.

Canning was taken by helicopter to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with broken ribs and internal bleeding, police said. He is listed in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Christopher Wands of Port Washington has two broken legs, Christopher Connors of Garden City had a broken pelvis and leg, police said, and Ian Cadzin of East Rockaway had a broken leg. Wands, Connors and Cadzin also are at Rhode Island Hospital where their status was unavailable, hospital spokeswoman Ellen Slingsby said.

Fitzgerald said police are investigating whether the vehicle had exceeded the speed limit or if alcohol was involved.

When police arrived at the scene, three of the men were outside of the vehicle. Connors had to be removed from the vehicle using hydraulic cutters, police said.

University spokeswoman Kristine Hendrickson said the institution's primary concern was for the students' health and well-being. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these four students," she said.

The Breakers mansion, built in 1895, is a Vanderbilt family Italian Renaissance-style villa designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt and designated a national historic landmark.