Cops: Body in submerged car was man, 90
East Hampton Town Police Divers, and members of the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad look for a submerged car that drove off the commercial dock into Three Mile Harbor at the end of Gann Road Wednesday afternoon in East Hampton. (Jan. 4, 2012) Credit: Gordon M. Grant
Investigators are looking into the death of a 90-year-old man whose body was recovered from a car that plunged off bulkhead on Gann Road into Three Mile Harbor on Wednesday afternoon in East Hampton, police said.
Police on Thursday identified the victim as Halsey L. Dickinson Jr., an East Hampton resident.
"Eyewitness accounts reveal that Dickinson's 2004 Subaru sped through the parking lot and struck a pylon, breaking it off before submerging in the water" at 2:29 p.m., East Hampton Town police said in a news release.
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 from the interior compartment of the vehicle" at about 4 p.m., police said in the release. Dickinson was the lone occupant of the vehicle, police said.
The vehicle was removed and will undergo a safety inspection, police said.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call East Hampton Town police at 631-537-7575.
The Suffolk County medical examiner is also investigating the death.
Accused cop killer in court ... Teacher's alleged victims to testify ... Popular brewery to close ... Visiting Christmasland in Deer Park
Accused cop killer in court ... Teacher's alleged victims to testify ... Popular brewery to close ... Visiting Christmasland in Deer Park
