Update: Jan. 5, 10:15 a.m.
East Hampton Town police released the name of the man, who died on Wednesday after driving off the commercial dock on Gann Road, as Halsey L. Dickinson Jr. He was 90.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner's office will investigate the incident, police said. Eyewitness accounts were that Dickinson's 2004 Subaru sped through the parking lot and struck a pylon breaking it off before submerging in the way, according to police.
Police later removed the car. They will conduct a safety inspection.
Update: 6:35 p.m.
The car was pulled from the water with a police tow truck and cables.
Update: 4:40 p.m.
An elderly man from East Hampton died of a likely suicide Wednesday, police said, after the man's car plunged into the icy waters of Three Mile Harbor in Springs.
He has not been identified pending notification of family.
Chief Ed Ecker said a caregiver for the man called the cops around 2:20 p.m.
"It was reported by a caregiver that he left the house in a silver or bronze color Subaru and he's suicidal," he said.
Within five minutes of that "a witness sees him coming down and blows through the pylon" on Gann Road, Ecker said.
The police chief said the car did not have any other passengers and that the victim was pulled out of the water at 4:15 p.m.
Rescue crews are still trying to remove the car, which was found upside down in dangerous waters with 5-knot currents.
The car drifted 200 yards west of where it entered the water.
"The more info we get, the more sad it is going to seem," Ecker said.
This is the second deadly accident in two days where an elderly man perished after their car entered the water. On Tuesday, Simon R. Flaherty, 80, of Hampton Bays
Update: 4:07 p.m.
Police have pulled one body out of the water after a car plunged Three Mile Harbor near Gann Road in Springs Wednesday afternoon. Police did not confirm whether the body was of a man or a woman, but the victim did not survive.
Police have not located another victim.
The car likely launched off the commercial dock bulkhead at the harbor, police said.
Update: 4:02 p.m.
Police have located one victim in the water.
Update: 3:51 p.m.
Police have located the car, which is upside down in the water. Divers have been sent into the water to look for any victims.
A Suffolk County helicopter has been called in to help with the rescue call.
Update: 3:44 p.m.
Police and fire officials still have not located a car that plunged into an icy East Hampton harbor Wednesday and are battling a vicious 5-knot current to find the vehicle.
The current has police trying to find the car via electronic instruments before they commit to putting boats in the dangerous waters, police said.
The Hampton Bays Fire Department has sent five divers in to help at the scene.
Original Story
A car was reported in the water at the end of Gann Road in Springs and dive crews have been called.
East Hampton Town police were called out sometime around 2:30 p.m. A half-hour later the Amagansett Fire Department was toned out for a structure fire in their district, tying up police and fire officials. Police officers are calling for the night shift officers to come in early.
Dive teams from East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Bridgehampton and North Sea were requested, as well as the East Hampton Volunteer Rescue Squad.
There is a boat launching ramp at the end of Gann Road for access into Three Mile Harbor.
The East Hampton Town Marine Patrol boats were also being use to find the car, according to chatter on the police radio. They were searching the last known area it was spotted based on the buoys, at about 2:50 p.m.
According to the Weather Channel, air temperatures were 29 degrees, but it feels like 18 with wind from the west at 14 mph.
According to the National Oceanographic Data Center, water temperatures in Montauk are 42 degrees.
Just yesterday, divers were called out for a similar call in Hampton Bays, where an side of the Shinnecock Canal.
In 2005, a man died when his car went into Three Mile Harbor from Gann Road. That accident occurred at night, however.
