A woman on Long Island faces charges after a fiery wrong-way crash — but she didn’t hit another driver. Police said she slammed right into a boat yard, causing several of the vessels to catch fire. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
An alleged drunk driver veered off a Long Island road and crashed into several boats at a marina, sparking a fire that left the vessels badly damaged.
The crash occurred Sunday night around 10 p.m., according to police, who said the department got several 911 calls about a woman driving in the wrong direction on Route 231 in Babylon prior to the wreck. The driver crashed through a fence and into a boat, police said.
Officers and a bystander pulled the driver, a 54-year-old woman from West Babylon, out of the burning car. The driver, who has not been identified, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she was expected to recover and face a judge at a later date.
Afterward, all that remained was the shell of a boat that was burned beyond recognition.
"If this was during the day, you wouldn’t be looking at boats — you’d be looking at dead people. This is an extremely busy road." said Jimmy Luttieri, who owns Suffolk Marine Center.
And it wasn't the first time something like this has occurred.
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"This is probably the sixth or seventh time in the last four or five years," said Doug DiLorenzo, of Wayside Fence Company, adding that a car crashed through in 2023 and hit an office. He was at the scene Monday measuring to install another new fence.
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Some say a guardrail on East Main Street might prevent cars from sailing through. Others blame drunk drivers.
"[A guardrail] would be nice to stop people from doing this, but you can’t drink and drive. The laws need to be stricter in my opinion," said Luttieri.
