UPDATE: Off-Duty Cop Injured in Ridge Wrong-Way DWI Crash

Officer Vincent Rantinella, driving home after work, was hit by a wrong way drunk driver in Ridge on Saturday morning, according to Chief Ed Ecker. 

After visiting with Rantinella and his family at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Ecker said Rantinella suffered a broken sternum and ankle or heel injury as well as multiple lacerations in the head-on crash that occurred as he was getting off of the William Floyd Parkway onto Route 25 at about 4:15 a.m. Surgery is being discussed, Ecker said.

"He was on the ramp and the driver coming down hit him head-on. He had nowhere to go," Ecker said. "It could have been a lot worse. He could have easily been killed. Thank God he was wearing his seat-belt."

The 31-year-old married father of one was about five miles from his home in Ridge when the accident occurred.

The Suffolk County Police Department's Public Information Office said seventh squad detectives are investigating the crash that took place on Middle Country Road by Half Moon Pond Road in Ridge at 4:17 a.m. 

At 1 p.m., they confirmed the other driver was traveling eastbound in westbound lane on Middle Country Road just east of William Floyd Parkway when the crash occurred. That driver -- a man -- was also taken to Stony Brook in serious condition and was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge, the county police said. 

No further information about the accident was available. 

Rantinella was resting comfortably, was conscious and alert, Ecker said. "He's going to be okay, though."

According to Ecker, Rantinella had worked a 4 p.m. to midnight shift and then stayed on for a few hours of STOP DWI patrol before going off-duty.

In fact, Rantinella has been recognized by Suffolk County as making the most DWI arrests in the town police department for the last two years.

"I hate to call it irony because it's worse than that," Ecker said, adding that it isn't the first accident off-duty officers have been involved in.

Rantinella has been on the force since 2003. Ecker called him a "real solid cop."

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said he received a call from the chief about the accident at about 6 a.m.

"It continues to show you how fragile our police force is," he said. "When they are returning home in the middle of the night, they are still subject to harm's way."

"This type of behavior just continues to plague us in Suffolk County," Wilkinson said of drunken driving accident.

He said it also points to the need in East Hampton for more affordable housing to ensure that local police officers, teachers and volunteer firemen have places to stay.

This article will be updated when more information becomes available.