Five-Car Crash on Merrick Road Injures Three

A five-car collision on Merrick Road this afternoon sent three people to the hospital with minor injuries, police said. 

The crash occurred just after noon when a red car attempting to cross Merrick Road from Wynsum Avenue plowed into a minivan, sending the minivan careening into three vehicles parked in front of Zuckerman's Jewelry, police said.

The driver of the car, who witnesses said was a teenage girl just a few hours away from attending prom, was transported to the hospital along with two others.

Nancy Greenspan, of Bellmore, was inside Zuckerman's when she heard the crash.

"I came out and saw a black car [that was hit] and said, 'OK, it's not my car being hit,'" Greenspan said.  "But I didn't realize I was parked all the way down there."

All the way down there being nearly 30 feet from where she had originally parked it in front of A&S Italian Fine Foods. 

Greenspan's car, which suffered minor damage, was parked in between two of vehicles involved in the accident.

A man was sitting in the driver's seat of one of those cars at the time of the crash, according to Greenspan.  The airbag deployed, but the man walked away uninjured, saying, "I'm going to church," Greenspan said.