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“I didn’t hear anything,” said Mario Arriaza, a ninth-grader at...

“I didn’t hear anything,” said Mario Arriaza, a ninth-grader at Patchogue-Medford High School who suffered only a small cut on his left hand. “It happened too fast.” (March 4, 2011) Credit: James Carbone

Fifteen-year-old Mario Arriaza will always remember the day he took the oath of American citizenship. He and his little brother, Anderson, got dressed up and shook hands with the local congressman. Their parents were so happy that they almost cried, and they took many pictures.

Later, when Mario was home on a couch watching TV, a Jeep and a minivan smashed through the wall and almost killed him.

"I didn't hear anything," said Mario, a ninth-grader at Patchogue-Medford High School who suffered only a small cut on his left hand. "It happened too fast."

Medford Fire Department Assistant Chief William Hart said the crash occurred at 7:43 p.m. Friday when Ifah Sinclair, 32, of Middle Island, missed a turn, sending his minivan into the home on Tarpon Avenue in Medford. Suffolk police said Sinclair has a "medical condition" that caused him to lose control of his vehicle. He was not charged.

The Chrysler minivan hit a Volkswagen hatchback and a Jeep sport utility vehicle parked in the driveway, sending the Volkswagen into the garage and the Jeep through the wall of the family room. The Jeep's gas tank ruptured and fuel doused the floor. Two-by-fours spun into the opposite wall and the television. The couch was pushed most of the way across the floor.

Anderson called 911. Before the boys ran outside, they glimpsed Sinclair in the minivan: "He was leaning over the steering wheel," said Anderson, 14, an eighth-grader at Saxton Middle School.

Sinclair and Mario were both taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, where they were treated and released. Sinclair could not be reached.

"The firefighters told me the Jeep saved [Mario's] life," said his father, Gonzalo Menendez, 29, a construction worker. Authorities told the family the house is unsafe until repaired.

The family returned to survey the wreckage Sunday. Menendez said he was relieved that everybody was alive and thrilled that his boys, born in El Salvador, are now Americans - "It's a feeling you can't understand if you are born in this country," he said - but sober concerns were settling in.

He and his wife, Nicolassa, bought the home, their first, in December, depleting their savings to pay the closing costs. He worries home insurance will not pay for the repairs.

The family stared at a mess of glass, insulation, and ruined furniture. "This is my dream house," Menendez said.

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