Police: Long Island Cab Driver, 92, Dies After Crashing Into Home
OAKDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A 92-year-old cab driver died Thursday, after police said he crashed into a home on Long Island.
As TV 10/55 Long Island Bureau Chief Richard Rose reported, Nassau County police said Joseph Saccente may have suffered a "medical emergency" while driving northbound on Shore Drive in Oakdale around 7:10 a.m. Thursday.
His taxi slammed into the den of a home on Shore Drive after driving across multiple lawns and striking mailboxes, police said. Police didn't report any other injuries.
Saccente, of West Sayville, was pronounced dead at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. His Colonial Taxi cab was impounded for a safety check.
The shaken homeowner would only say she was in the back of the home at the time and was not hurt. Stunned neighbors drove by to assess the wreckage.
"I mean, it's a very strange angle, for this guy to go into the house at this angle like this," said neighbor Robert Capuano. "Where did he come from? What happened?"
Neighbors blocks away asked the same questions, surveying the path of the taxi's tire tracks up onto lawns – knocking down everything in its path.
"He drove straight down, and right over my mailbox; over my neighbor's mailbox. He knocked garbage cans down; drove right into the house," said neighbor Brian Kearney. "They were doing CPR on the cab driver. He was out of the car. Evidently, I think he had a heart attack or some medical condition."
Neighbors wondered why Saccente was even driving the cab.
"I don't think he should have been behind the wheel at 92, but…" said neighbor Janelle Greco.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles does not prohibit elderly taxi drivers, but has rules to prohibit anyone whose age affects their driving.
"The Department of Motor Vehicles will examine reliably reported information to determine if a driver needs to be reevaluated," the department said in a statement.
Suffolk police told CBS2 Saccente had no record of traffic incidents, and dispatchers at his cab company said he had the appropriate license and a clean record in the five years he drove a cab.
No one from the Colonial Taxi cab company would speak on camera, but they said in the five years that Saccente worked for them, he had a clean record and a Class E driver's license as required by law.
His sons, too distraught to speak, would only say their father believed in getting up and going to work every day.
Just Wednesday, another driver crashed into a house in Centerpoint, Long Island. In that case, police said a drunken driver was involved.
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