Elderly couple sent to hospital after their car crashes into CVS Pharmacy in Wading River —twice

(Updated- Jan. 21 7 am) An elderly driver crashed into the CVS Pharmacy in Wading River Sunday evening — twice.

The brick building sustained significant damage and was immediately evacuated. 

Both the driver of the vehicle and his wife, who was inside the store at the time of the accident and suffered cuts from broken glass, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital by Wading River Fire and Rescue.

“His wife was dropping off prescriptions and all of a sudden we heard a loud boom,” said a CVS employee who declined to give her name. “He had hit the building where the office is,” she said. “And then all of a sudden we heard another loud boom and he crashed into the front door,” she said.

Police later identified the man as Ronald Kucinski, 78 and his wife as Joan Kucinski, 74, both of Wading River. The man’s 1997 Mercury sedan initially backed into the building on the eastern end of its north facade. Dislodging numerous bricks, the crash left a large, gaping hole in the wall — an area of about six feet by eight feet. Then the driver seems to have backed up and pulled around to the northwest corner of the building, where he crashed into the front entrance of the store, shattering glass and knocking items off store shelves within.

A witness inside the store said, at the sound of the initial crash, the woman said, “I hope my husband is all right. We just got home from the hospital.” She ran to the front door just as his Mercury came crashing through it. The second impact caused the bricks around the door to crumble and broke the glass doors.

The store was then evacuated and closed for business. It is not clear how long it will be before it’s repaired and reopened.

The couple suffered minor injuries in the mishap, police said.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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