A sport utility vehicle careened out of control and struck two houses in Seagate on Aug. 15 — killing the under-the-influence driver and sending his passenger to the hospital.
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was heading down Surf Avenue near the corner of Beach 38th Street at 5:08 pm when it suddenly skidded to the left, according to the gated community’s police. The driver apparently attempted an abrupt turn that took the vehicle up off the roadway and into a nearby front yard. The vehicle hit the front stairs of one house, flipped over, and collided with the neighboring home.
The Fire Department said that it dispatched two ambulances to the scene — one that took the driver to Coney Island Hospital in a state of cardiac arrest, and another that brought his female passenger to Lutheran Medical Center with minor injuries.
The driver was declared dead at the hospital. Police said a toxicology screen showed that the Seagate resident was under the influence, but would not provide further details.
The passenger taken to Lutheran was treated and released.
“She was able to go home that day,” said a spokeswoman for the local Seagate police department.
The spokeswoman added that no one inside the two houses was harmed, nor were the structures themselves seriously damaged.
“It was nothing excessive,” the officer said.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at wbredderman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4507. Follow him at twitter.com/WillBredderman.
