Cops: Mercedes SUV hits two houses in West Babylon after brakes fail

A driver lost control of her SUV when its brakes failed Friday morning, striking one house and then another house across the street in West Babylon, police said.

The unidentified driver, a 55-year-old woman from West Babylon, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for evaluation of minor injuries, police and fire officials said.

The woman was backing her Mercedes ML 350 into an acquaintance's driveway on Gordon Avenue at 11:50 a.m. when the brakes malfunctioned and the SUV struck the garage, Suffolk County police said.

Then, she put the Mercedes in drive and drove into the house across the street, which was unoccupied, police said.

Eric Schumann, chief of the West Babylon Fire Department, said the woman drove into a front bedroom.

A building inspector determined that the home was not safe to enter and crews shored up that part of the house, Schumann said.

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.comScraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.