2 people injured after woman crashes car through front of Farmingdale restaurant
This is the second time a car plowed through the front of the family-owned chinese restaurant in just over a year.
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Two people were injured and a Farmingdale restaurant was badly damaged after a woman lost control of her car, struck two other vehicles and plowed into the storefront, police said.
According to Nassau County police, a 57-year-old woman was driving a 2023 Hyundai Sante Fe northbound on North Broadway when she lost control of her car at the intersection of Boundary Avenue.
Investigators said the woman drove through the intersection, hit two cars parked in the parking lot and crashed into the front of the Great Wall Chinese restaurant at 47 Boundary Avenue #4 around 11:20 p.m. Monday.
New surveillance video shows two bystanders, including one man who pulled his car over, rush to the scene and pull the woman from the car less than a minute before it engulfed in flames. See the video below (If you're on the News 12 app and can't see the videos above - TAP HERE.)
Bethpage firefighters got to the scene and rushed to put the fire out.
The Subway next door was also damaged in the crash.
"[It's] not good for the business," Subway manager Mike Suthar said. "Let's see what we can do. If we can fix it and we can open the store in the future."
A 30-year-old man sitting in a 2017 Ford Mustang was injured in the crash. The second car the woman hit, a 2022 Volkswagen Jetta, was unoccupied.
Both the female driver and the man who was sitting in his car were taken to hospital for treatment.
Their current conditions are unknown.
"It's just sad," Farmingdale resident Paul Pitz said. "It really is but this is a high traffic area. I've got to tell you; this is a 35 mile an hour and that's a 30 and cars come through here at 65 miles an hour. Constantly. So, it is unsafe around here."
The Town of Oyster Bay Building Division placed emergency safeguard notifications on both eateries prohibiting anyone from entering the buildings until they can be inspected.
This is the second time in just over a year that a car crashed through the front of the Great Wall Chinese restaurant.
Video from that incident shows metal bollards were not in front of the businesses at that time but have since been installed.
Video from Monday's crash shows the car propped up on the metal bollards potentially preventing more significant damage.
According to the family-owned restaurant's Instagram page, they reopened last May from that first crash.
"I feel bad for those people," Pitz said. "They've been here since I was a kid. They rebuilt and I don't know what's going to happen to them."
In response to calls for improved safety measures a Town of Oyster Bay spokesperson told News 12: "We await facts from the investigation surrounding this accident as the Town previously installed reflective safety measures, enhanced lighting and authorized store owners to construct protective bollards."
