2 injured when SUV crashes into pillar at Heckscher Park in Huntington

A passenger was seriously injured when an SUV left the road and plowed through a metal fence and into Heckscher Park in Huntington late Thursday before slamming into a concrete pillar near an intersection, first responders, witnesses at the scene and police said.

Liliana Mendez, 44, of St. James, was transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The driver of the 2019 Lincoln Navigator, Marlon Mendez, also of St. James, went to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The black Navigator was heading west on Main Street just past Town Hall about 10:45 p.m. when it missed a curve in the road, careened down a park embankment and hit the pillar, according to a witness who captured part of the crash on his car camera, as well as police.

The witness, who declined to give his name, said he was sitting in the northbound lane of Prime Street at the intersection of Main Street when the SUV came barreling into view on his left and slammed into the pillar.

Video recorded on his Tesla's camera first showed the park's southwest entrance with streetlights illuminating an otherwise nearly pitch-black scene. A pair of headlights burst into view and the Navigator is shown hitting the concrete barrier, creating a cloud of smoke and dust.

"As soon as I saw the car I said 'let's go!' the witness said, as he stood at the shattered fence where the SUV had jumped the sidewalk and crashed through about 30 minutes earlier. 

Had the pillar not stopped the SUV, the witness said, he was certain it would have hit his car.

Suffolk police in the area were on the scene shortly after the crash and tended to the driver, who had crawled from the wreckage, according to other witnesses. Additional officers, along with arriving Huntington firefighters, used pry bars and other tools to free the other occupant from the crumpled passenger side.

Jillian Trimboli, 27, lives a few doors down from the crash scene. Trimboli said she was drifting off to sleep when a large "boom" jolted her awake.

She came out and stood with other residents to watch as rescuers worked to free the passenger while police closed off the intersection and redirected late-night traffic.

"It sounded like a plow hitting then pavement," Trimboli said. "But without snow."

With Nicholas Grasso