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Sarah Espinosa, 22, from Albany, drove over the center median
on the Jericho Turnpike on Long Island late Monday and plowed
through the garage door of the New Hyde Park Fire House,
damaging two fire trucks, the Nassau County Police Department
said in a statement.
"Fire personnel who were present at the time of the accident
rendered aid to the victim, at which time they discovered a
small ball python snake wrapped around the defendant's neck,"
police said.
Firefighters removed the snake and Espinosa was transported to a
local hospital, police said. She was released a short time
later.
Espinosa was charged with reckless driving, driving while
intoxicated, and unlawful possession of marijuana in addition to
reckless endangerment in the second degree and petty larceny.
Police said they were not sure if the snake had been strangling
Espinosa and caused her to crash, or if her driving was impaired
by intoxication.
Espinosa is accused of stealing the snake from a nearby PETCO
store before the crash, police said. The animal, priced at
$89.99, was returned to the pet store later on Monday, police
said.
She was arraigned on Tuesday at First District Court in
Hempstead, where a judge ordered her held on $5,000 bail and
suspended her driver's license, Nassau County District Attorney
spokesman Shams Tarek said.
Calls to the legal group representing Espinosa were not
immediately returned on Tuesday.
Small ball pythons are not as long and thick as other types of
python and they are more docile, according to PETCO's website.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Barbara Goldberg,
Bernadette Baum and Eric Walsh)
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