SUV Slams Into Malverne Home, Traps 2 Inside [Updated]

UPDATED: 11:50 p.m. June 14, 2012

A SUV slammed so hard into the side of a Malverne home Thursday morning that it knocked the building off its foundation.

The white 2002 BMW X5, which was travelling north on Ocean Avenue, struck a home located across from the Hempstead Avenue and Ocean Avenue intersection around 6 a.m. It took out the house's staircase, stranding two occupants on the second floor, who were awoken from their sleep, and sent the chimney toppling over into the side yard.

Malverne Police, Malverne volunteer firefighters and the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to the scene. 

Malverne Police Chief John Aresta told Patch that the accident appeared to be caused by "excessive speeding" and that there was nothing indicating that alcohol played a factor.

Nassau County Police said the driver was a 23-year-old Oceanside man, who The New York Post identified as Michael Loise. He was "bloody" and "banged up," but stable and alert when firefighters pulled him out of his vehicle, according to Malverne Assistant Fire Chief James Lang. MVAC placed him on a board, fitted him with a neck brace and rushed him to a local hospital.

"He didn't appear to have any serious injuries," Lang said.

"We had two occupants upstairs, probably sleeping at the time," Lang also told Patch. "When the fire department arrived, we found them at a window and they said they were trapped upstairs because the interior stairs were compromised because of the vehicle. We advised them to go out to a window onto the roof of a porch and we threw up a portable ladder and assisted them down to the ground."

The village's Building Inspector and the Long Island Power Authority were also called in to examine the aftermath. 

The house was deemed uninhabitable, Richard Barbieri, superintendent of Malverne's Buildings Department, told Patch. Barbieri explained that the village's engineering firm, Cameron Engineering and Associates, will submit a full report on the house to the village indicating whether or not it needs to be condemned.

The vehicle was impounded for a brake and safety check and the investigation is ongoing.

The accident impeded traffic on Ocean Avenue for the morning commute. Police were directing cars travelling northbound off of Ocean Avenue onto Church Street.