NY driver slams into Chinese restaurant in fiery crash 2nd time in a year a car hit eatery: cops

A Long Island driver lost control and slammed into a Chinese restaurant in a fiery crash Monday night – the second time a motorist struck the eatery in about a year, cops said. A 57-year-old woman was driving a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV north on Broadway in Farmingdale around 11:20 p.m.when she veered off the road and rammed into a parked 2017 Ford Mustang and a 2022 Volkswagen Jetta, authorities said. The series of crashes came to a blazing end when the Hyundai driver slammed into the Great Wall Chinese restaurant, located within a strip mall on Broadway and Boundary Avenue, cops said. A fire started but was quickly extinguished by the Bethpage Fire Department, police said. Photos and a video posted on the fire department’s Facebook page show the Hyundai slightly tilted on its side, leaning against the restaurant with flames engulfing its front end and rising taller than the single-story eatery.An image of the aftermath shows the front portion of the red SUV totaled and scorched as firefighters surrounded it.Both the Hyundai driver and a 30-year-old man who was inside the Mustang were taken to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment, cops said. No one was inside the Volkswagen and no other injuries were reported. In another crash about a year ago, an allegedly drunk Mercedes driver was traveling on North Broadway when she veered off the road and collided with a parked Toyota, police said then. The impact of the Jan.

26, 2024 crash sent the unoccupied Toyota through the storefront of the Chinese eatery, with the Mercedes just behind it, police said at the time. The Mercedes driver, Lauren Potter, 39, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and third-degree assault, cops said. Potter – who suffered an ankle injury and complained of chest pain – as well as a 51-year-old woman who was inside the restaurant, were both taken to a local hospital after last year’s incident, cops said....