By Anna Gustafson
Two women were rushed to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after an elderly woman drove her Mercedes through the front of Mazurs Kosher Market in Little Neck, police and fire officials said.
Police said the driver, who was about 70 to 80 years old, pinned a middle-aged woman under the rear tire on the car’s passenger side after crashing through the front of the store that is located in the Little Neck Plaza. Officials at the scene said neither woman seemed likely to die, and they did not release the individuals’ names.
“I was waiting on a customer when I heard the crash,” said Barbara Vanagas, 53, who has worked for the deli for the past 11 years. “She drove right past my register. She could’ve killed me. I was a foot away from her. I’m still in shock. I’m very scared.”
Fire officials said the woman was hit around 3:30 p.m. while she was shopping in the store. Officials did not say to which hospitals the women went.
“I saw glass shattered all over the place, and I heard screams,” Vanagas said. “I heard the woman who was hit cry out, and I just said, ‘Oh my God.”
Bruce Gardner, who works in the nearby Davis Vision, said the crash “sounded like an explosion.”
Mazurs Kosher Market is sandwiched between Denny’s Children’s Wear on the left and Five Guys Burgers and Fries to the right. It is in a shopping center with about 17 stores, about half of which have had cars drive through their storefronts, according to Irene Shamalova, who works at the Exit 32 hair salon.
“It has happened about eight times in the past 10 years,” Shamalova said. “A car jumped into my store on Sept. 11, 2002. They need to put up more barriers. They need to put up something like a column to protect us.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
