STATEN ISLAND — A mother and her 5-year-old daughter were injured after an allegedly drunken driver crashed his car into their Tottenville home Friday morning, the NYPD said.
Lisa Roman, 40, and her daughter, Leonora, were sleeping on a couch in their kitchen at 5309 Arthur Kill Road when an out-of-control white 2010 Hyundai Elantra blasted into the house just after 4 a.m., police and relatives said.
"All of a sudden we heard a loud crash," said Melissa Roman, 17, Roman's daughter. "I see my mother under a car."
"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Lisa Roman screamed, Melissa recalled. "I was trying to pull her out but she was wedged too tight."
Paramedics and firefighters raced to the home, near Lee Avenue, to pull Lisa and Leonora to safety. They were rushed to Staten Island University Hospital North, the FDNY said.
Lisa had third-degree burns to her buttocks and pelvis, Melissa Roman said, and Leonora suffered a fractured skull, brain damage, broken bones and burns across her body.
"We were screaming for my baby sister," Melissa Roman said. "I was in shock. I thought I lost my baby sister.
"She's my life," Melissa Roman added. "I was screaming for her."
The FDNY said the two victims were in critical but stable condition.
Charles Trainor, 22, who lives about a block away on Lee Avenue, was behind the wheel when the car veered off Arthur Kill Road and careened about 8 yards into the house, police said.
"The driver has been arrested," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a news conference at One Police Plaza.
Trainor was charged with two counts of vehicle assault, driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by drugs, driving while ability impaired by alcohol and driving while ability impaired, an NYPD spokesman said.
Brad Bellocchio, owner of Bella Home Improvements, which was already working on the house, estimated that the cost of repairs at $40,000.
"This [is] not the first time something like this has happened on these roads," Bellochio said. "The city needs to work on putting some guard rails up to protect these people."
Neighbors of the Romans said the tight-knit family was respected in Tottenville.
"They're really nice people," said Ashley Montavo, 22, who lives in an adjacent house and heard the boom of the crash. "They're the last people that deserve any of this."
Hours after the sudden crash, the Roman family was still in shock.
"You don't think this is going to happen to you, and you definitely don't think it's going to happen this bad," said Josie Roman, 15, Lisa Roman's daughter. "The morning has just been a whole swirl of emotions."
