Driver Rescued After Car Crashes Into Deli In Freeport

FREEPORT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A woman was rescued after her car slammed into a deli in Freeport, Long Island Monday afternoon.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, the accident happened around 12:15 p.m. at the MAM Deli on Babylon Turpike near Hillside Avenue, on the cusp of Freeport and Roosevelt, around 12:15 p.m.

It was lunchtime at the busy deli when the car smashed through the windows and came to rest inside. Glass and food went flying.

Owner Miguel Medina was one of six stunned workers inside.

"We just heard the boom. That's it," Medina said. "We didn't know what happened. I run to front, and I see there was a car."

The female driver was trapped inside her mangled car and had to be pulled from the wreckage. On a stretcher, she appeared to be alert without life-threatening injuries.

But Kevin Butler, a customer, recalls the scare on the deli line seeing an out-of-control car crash through the store front.

"I just tried to run away from it, and debris, bricks, glass were just flying everywhere," Butler said.

How did it happen? Witnesses said a school bus, legally parked on busy Babylon Turnpike, may have obstructed the view of the driver of a Honda sport-utility vehicle who was coming from a side street.

That driver hit the woman's car right before she veered out of control into the store.

The car also narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian who was walking by the deli at the moment of impact.

Neighbors said the corner of Babylon Turnpike where the accident happened has been a problem for years. One car ended up in a front yard recently.

"This is actually a very bad spot," said Isaac Gillian of Freeport. "We have seven, eight accidents a year right here on this corner."

With the busy lunchtime rush just beginning at the time, workers said they were thankful. Moments later, the deli would have been packed with customers.

In:
• Freeport