The historic Greenhill Cemetery in Greenport was the scene of a violent crash yesterday that left a man hospitalized and caused extensive damage to a Tuthill family crypt.
A car driven by Timoteo Velasques Ramires, 50, of Greenport, was seen racing down Third Street before it crashed through a fence and into the crypt located just inside the cemetery on Webb Street.
Mayor George Hubbard, who is also a member of the cemetery committee, was at the scene yesterday with the Greenport Fire Department.
“I couldn’t see much last night, but when I went by this morning I was amazed at the extent of the damage,” said Hubbard. “He hit the crypt, which actually stopped him from plowing through and maybe taking out 50 or 100 old gravestones. There could have been a lot more damage. But there is extensive damage to that one plot belonging to that family.”
The Greenhill Cemetery, which was established in 1842, was donated to Greenport Village about 20 years ago by the Clark family, said Hubbard.
The village clerk contacted Staples Monuments in Greenport to survey the damage and get an estimate for repairs, which will then be sent to the driver’s insurance company for a claim.
The driver was initially taken by ambulance to Eastern Long Island Hospital and then flown by helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital. The hospital could not provide information on the victim’s condition.
