Doctor: Car pinned pediatrician, mom in office

The doctor injured when a car rammed into a Village of the Branch pediatric office was home Wednesday with fractured bones in her left arm.

Dr. Richard Ancona of Branch Pediatrics, at 300 Middle Country Rd., said his colleague, Dr. Maria Mineo, was already asking about coming back to work.

"She's home in a cast, with fractures to her left radius and left ulna," Ancona said.

The pediatrician might be on the injured list a little longer than she desires, Ancona said. She will see an orthopedic surgeon in the next few days to see if surgery is required, he said.

The office was rocked shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, when Lyudmila Lerner, 74, of Kings Park, drove her car into the office located east of Terry Road, Suffolk County police said.

Ancona said Mineo was examining a boy, 9, with his mother in the room when the car knifed through the wall of the examination room, pinning Mineo and the mother against different walls.

The mother and boy were treated for minor injuries at Stony Brook University Hospital, along with Mineo and the driver, Ancona said.

The boy had a laceration, he said.

Lerner had non-life-threatening injuries, police said Tuesday. A department spokeswoman Wednesday said there was no update on her injuries.

The spokeswoman also said no charges were pending and that police had not yet determined a cause for the crash. The investigation is continuing, she said.

Ancona said by phone from the office Wednesday -- which was open to patients with the damaged area boarded up -- that it was a miracle more people were not seriously injured or even killed.

"There were 40 or 50 people here when the car hit," he said. The car "came up our driveway, hit the curb, went onto the lawn and into the building.

"When it happened, the building was rumbling, like for 30 seconds."