Man pulled from Shinnecock Canal dies

An 80-year-old man has died after being pulled from a submerged car in the waters off Hampton Bays Tuesday afternoon, Southampton Town police said.

Simon R. Flaherty of Hampton Bays, was the driver and lone occupant in a Lincoln sedan when several callers reported a car going from the Meschutt County Park parking lot into the Peconic Bay side of the Shinnecock Canal, police said.

Detectives are investigating what happened in the 2:24 p.m. accident and await autopsy results from the county medical examiner's office.

Suffolk County police in a helicopter helped divers from several rescue agencies find the fully submerged Lincoln, and divers from the Hampton Bays Fire Department pulled Flaherty from the wreckage, Southampton police said.

Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance members tried to resuscitate Flaherty, but he was pronounced dead at 4:06 p.m. at Southampton Hospital.

Southampton town police impounded the car as part of their investigation.

Along with town police and Hampton Bays rescuers, the Coast Guard, Suffolk County police and Suffolk County park police arrived to help. Responding fire departments included North Sea, Sag Harbor, Mastic, Medford, Eastport and Mattituck, Southampton Town police said.

With Patricia Kitchen