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Seizure Excuse: Driver Who Crashed Into House, Injuring 2, Denies He Was Drunk
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2012
Modified Sep 30, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2012
Modified Sep 30, 2012
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Via NBC New York
The 22-year-old driver charged with vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and driving while impaired by drugs for crashing his Hyundai Elantra into a Staten Island home—and injuring a woman and her young daughter— on Friday is pleading not guilty. A lawyer for Charles Trainor said, "He had a seizure and that’s what caused him to lose control. This was an accident."
However, the authorities say he smelled of alcohol at the scene (he had a 0.07 on a Breathalyzer but failed a sobriety test) and a prosecutor said, "This is not an accident. This was intentional."
The crash was at 5309 Arthur Kill Road, which is at the top of a T-intersection right where Lee Avenue begins. Trainor lives a block away on Lee Avenue. The Advance adds that according to a Staten Island University Hospital, little Leonora Roman, 5, "suffered skull and eye-socket fractures" while her mother, Lisa Roman, 40, "suffered third-degree burns to her body" from being trapped under the car.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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