Truck crashes into Salisbury home, Nassau police say

A Brentwood man was arrested after he was allegedly intoxicated and crashed into and through the front and side of a home in Salisbury early Thursday, missing a boy asleep in his bedroom, Nassau County police said.

Police said the driver, 42-year-old Blas Flores-Velasquez fled the scene on foot, but was found hiding in woods near the Wantagh Parkway more than two hours later following a search by officers and a canine unit. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an incident with property damage, and operating a motor vehicle without a license, police said.

The crash occurred just before 1 a.m. near the intersection of Cypress Lane East and Cypress Lane West, just south of Old Country Road and adjacent to Carman Avenue and the entrance-exit ramps for the Wantagh State Parkway. Three people including the boy were inside the home when the crash happened, police said.

Photos and video from the scene show tire tracks across the front lawn of the home on Cypress Lane East, the dark-colored Chevrolet Silverado pickup just missing cars parked in the driveway in front of the home and a column supporting the front porch roof, only to crash on an angle through the front door of the house, striking what police described as the living room as well as the adjacent converted garage space where teen Jayden Trinh said he was asleep.

"I hear the loud noise," homeowner Thu Pham said. "I woke up, I went down. I saw the open space. I didn't know what happened because it was dark. I didn't realize that the car hit."

Pham said what she did next was to check on her son — and was relieved to find him safe. The two said the pickup had gone through his bedroom.

"I was really confused," Trinh said. "I thought we were getting robbed or that something just exploded … Everybody was panicking. We called the cops."

It was only then, Trinh said, he realized the truck had gone through his house.

"It's really unreal," he said.

Trinh said that, out on the front lawn, he saw the driver and that the man looked at him — and then just walked away.

A sofa, bed, desk and wall units are all visible in video and photos taken at the scene and one shot shows the front door of the home laid up against a bed.

Flores-Velasquez was arraigned Thursday before Nassau First District Court Judge Vincent Muscarella. Flores-Velasquez's license was suspended and he was released on his own recognizance, said Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. Flores-Velasquez was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County.

With Howard Schnappp and Paul Mazza