By Joseph Kellard and Cris Italia
The accident brings up horrible reminders of what took place just under a year ago. Three young adults making a bad decision. The Oceanside Triangle was also host to yet another accident a year to the day, when the driver took out a police booth.
In this latest incident, Nicola Caporaso was heading southbound on Long Beach Road in a 2003 Toyota at 12:45 a.m., when he jumped the curb onto the Oceanside Triangle, located at Davison and Lincoln Avenues. His car was stopped by a light pole at a curb before Vanilla's Funeral Home. Caporaso ran into a fire hydrant, the granite monument, and a traffic control box, said Officer Dowerty at the Fourth Precinct.
Caporaso, 22, of Oceanside, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was traveling with two passengers, whose names the police officials did not release. The driver and the two passengers were transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital. After his arrest, Caporaso's car was impounded.
The accident marks the second accident at the area in a year. On May 13, 2001, during the middle of the afternoon, a car heading southbound on Long Beach Road drove into the police booth at the Triangle, which was subsequently taken down.
A few years ago, the granite monument, which lists each house of worship in Oceanside, was once run into by a man driving his Corvette.
County legislator Jeff Toback who had scheduled renovations to start in 2003 for the Oceanside Triangle, is concerned with accidents along Long Beach Road at the triangle. I don't know whether or not Oceanside gets more DWI accidents than other towns, Toback said. Historically, because of the bar scene in Island Park people get in their cars and drive down Long Beach Road and that's why there seems to be more accidents. Toback added that in summer months there is always strong and increased police presence.
Toback and the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce are working on a design for the triangle and a proposed $50,000 will be spent on making improvements. The Chamber of Commerce is planning a renovation of the triangle with a nautical motif, which would include a lighthouse, said chamber president, Maria Heller.
The Chamber is also planning to surround the triangle with fifteen flags during Memorial Day, July 4th, and the Sept. 11 anniversary.
