Driver dies after Jeep overturns on Unquowa Road

The 69-year-old driver of a Jeep Wrangler died after the vehicle overturned on Unquowa Road shortly after noon Tuesday.

Peter Rainone of Winnepoge Road -- the vehicle's lone occupant -- may have suffered a heart attack, according to a preliminary assessment by police and fire personnel at the scene. He was unconscious and unresponsive when the first officer arrived on the scene, police said.

Rainone lost control of the Jeep as he was driving east on Unquowa Road and struck a tree near Fairfield Ludlowe High School, causing the Jeep to flip onto its side, police said. No other vehicles were involved.

Rainone was removed from the vehicle, and an off-duty firefighter from Yonkers, N.Y., who lives nearby, initiated efforts to stabilize him before emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene, according to firefighters. He was transported to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, where he was declared dead by an emergency room physician.

A stretch of Unquowa Road in front of the high school was closed to traffic for several hours Tuesday afternoon as the accident remained under investigation.