A 76-year-old man driving an SUV crashed the vehicle into a building where a children's Hanukkah party was being held. The accident took place on Long Island, in Woodmere, around 2:45 p.m. yesterday. Fourteen people were injured, a dozen of them children. Two children are in critical but stable condition at Nassau University Hospital.
Apparently the driver, psychiatrist Theodore Saretsky, lost control of the car and drove through the plate glass window of a party hall. Nassau County Police's Lt. Kevin Smith said, "He makes an abrupt left turn. It actually forces the car that's parked along the side of the road up on to the sidewalk. His car careens through several plate glass windows, enters the building and comes to rest after basically running over ... several people." A witness told the Daily News, "The car went airborne briefly. It was crazy."
Police say that evidence indicates Saretsky "did not have a medical problem but made a claim regarding the SUV's accelerator," according to Newsday.
