Police: Driver High On Drugs Crashes Car Into Long Island Nail Salon

DEER PARK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Police say a driver high on drugs crossed a busy Long Island highway, struck another car and then drove right into a nail salon in a busy strip mall.

Tow truck workers spent more than an hour carefully pulling a sport-utility vehicle from what is now a wrecked nail salon on Deer Park Avenue.

The façade of the nail salon was entirely gone, and the inside was completely destroyed, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported.

Police say 36-year-old Michael Fusaro, of Huntington Station, was high on heroin when he drove over a snow bank in a gas station parking lot, then across the busy six-lane highway where he crashed into a Dodge Dart. Eyewitnesses told TV 10/55's Richard Rose Fusaro just kept going.

"He then proceeded to drive over the curb into the nail salon next-door to the barber shop and kept on driving and gunning it until he was stopped by the back wall," Jose Robles said.

The surveillance video captured the moment both barbers and customers scrambled to safety as the SUV careened in.

"I see the car coming straight in this direction, then I see another car getting hit which was the blue one. The snow bank is what shifted it into the nail salon. All you can hear was a big explosion, boom. It was crazy," DJ Swiss said.

Robles took cell phone video as he raced up to see if he could help the dazed driver.

"The guy that was in the car was totally out of it and I just told him to shut off the car. I saw him put it in reverse or neutral and he revved the engine. When I see that he did that, I just ran out," Robles said.

Two women working in the salon did not want to be interviewed, but witnesses said they dove to safety as the SUV barreled in.

The driver of the other vehicle struck by Fusaro suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but his vehicle was totaled and had to be hauled off.

Owners of the nail salon are not sure when the shop can be repaired and reopened.

Police Fusaro faces several charges, including with reckless driving, driving while impaired, and possession of a controlled substance.