While driving home from an overnight shift, a nurse lost control of her car on Tysens Lane, crashing into two parked cars before hopping the curb. (Staten Island Advance/Vicnent Barone)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After working an overnight shift, a nurse lost control of her SUV on Tysens Lane in New Dorp and careened into two parked cars as she hopped the curb.
The incident occurred around 8:43 a.m., Friday. There were no injuries. According to police, the female nurse refused medical attention.
The nurse's car ended up on the front lawn of Gloria Paulsen, after it drove over a tree planted by the curb and barreled through the white vinyl fence bordering her front yard.
"I heard a huge crash and came outside to see the car on my lawn. I was shocked," Mrs. Paulsen said. "It's a miracle that no one got hurt. I feel bad for [the nurse]. She was really shaken up."
The police officer on the scene would not identify the nurse, where she worked, or how she lost control of her car. But witnesses claimed that the nurse had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Both Mrs. Paulsen and her neighbor, Matt Virga, saw the nurse step out of her car.
"She looked completely stunned," said Virga. "The first thing she said when she got out of her car was 'I fell asleep.'"
The nurse sideswiped Virga's car, which was parked by the curb, shortly after she lost control of her SUV.
Virga's neighbor, Vinny, who refused to give his last name, was fetching the paper outside when he saw the SUV heading directly at him. He narrowly missed being hit.
"I heard her hit [Virga's] car and turned around and I ran as fast as I could. I could have ran a 100-yard dash," he joked. "I'm still a little shaken up, though. Thankfully there was no one else out here who she could have hit."
The SUV was towed away within the hour.
Vinny was reflective about his close encounter with the off-course vehicle.
"Thank God that no one got hurt," he said. "You can fix a fence. You can't fix a life."