News: Bizarre Accidents on Long Island
(Long Island, N.Y.) A minivan crashed into a home in North Bellport last Friday night when the driver lost control after experiencing diabetic shock. A fifteen-year-old boy named Mario Arriaza suffered a minor cut on his hand, after being struck by the vehicle while sitting on his couch. Earlier that day, he and his younger brother met their local congressman in celebration of his oath of citizenship.
Arriaza was watching television when the incident occurred at roughly a quarter to eight last Friday. The minivan entered his living room after crashing through his home on Tarpon Street in North Bellport. He later discovered that the vehicle was a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan.
Initially, the van hit a Jeep parked in the driveway, while also colliding with an additional car. The Jeep was pushed into the living room upon contact, and two-by-fours fell from the ceiling onto the wall near the television. Arriaza was lucky to avoid the impact of their fall.
The fifteen-year-old’s parents were very proud of their son for his citizenship and ability to avoid danger. They claimed to have been on the verge of tears that day, while taking many pictures to celebrate the achievement. Though Arriaza wanted to go out with friends that weekend, they told him it would be safer to stay at home.
This story is almost as bizarre as the incident of drag racing that occurred in the wee hours of last Thursday morning. Two young drivers crashed their vehicles after being clocked doing 145mph on the Long Island Expressway. A twenty-year-old male was driving a 2005 Dodge Neon SRT with two other passengers when he crashed it into a Gulf gas station pump.
The twenty-one-year old driver crashed his yellow 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo into the fence of a Hooter’s restaurant in Islandia. There was another passenger in the vehicle and the Hooter’s was located across the street from the gas pump where the Dodge exploded. Both cars had been traveling westbound and exited by Exit 58 and Exit 61 in Holbrook when they attempted to evade a police cruiser.
Miraculously, only one of the passengers experienced a minor concussion. The driver of the Dodge was held on $75,000 cash bail, an attempt of the judge to set an example out of the recklessness of the crime. Family and friends of the driver allegedly stormed out of the courtroom in response to the steepness of the bail.
The officer that clocked the vehicles was a Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff and called for backup when he realized he stood no chance of catching up to the racers in a pursuit. Some of the charges against the drivers include: second degree reckless endangerment, illegal drag racing, fleeing a police car, reckless driving, criminal mischief, and speeding. Both drivers had their licenses suspended.
A surveillance video at the gas station where the Dodge ignited showed the vehicle bursting into flames just as a passenger was diving out of the car. The owner of the gas station claims that the passengers were lucky to be alive, because it was only a matter of seconds before the explosion totaled the vehicle. He says he saw one of the passengers jump out of the car, and when he went to help, was also forced to run from the flames.
Reports said that the drivers were acquaintances, and that no drugs or alcohol were found at the scene. A mother and daughter coming home from New York City that evening contacted emergency services while filming the bizarre event. This incident has Suffolk County officials reviewing legislation on racing in the hopes of creating stricter laws against it.
