Out-of-control SUV smashes into home in Newburgh

NEWBURGH, New York (WABC) -- An out-of-control SUV smashed into a home in Orange County Wednesday night, causing significant damage.

Police say the driver of the 2005 Lincoln Navigator was drunk when he careened into the house on Gidney Avenue in Newburgh around 9:30 p.m.

A 66-year-old female resident was not seriously injured. Pat Brown was not in the part of the home where the SUV crashed, an enclosed porch that had been made into a room. Instead, the cancer survivor was sleeping in another room. She was home alone, with her husband at work. Firefighters rescued her through the back of the house.

"Next thing I know, I heard my neighbors yelling, 'Is she alright, is she alright,'" Brown said. "And they came to the rescue. I seen the fire department trying to get to the front porch to get me out. But they were able to get me out that back door."

The owner is waiting on city officials to assess the damage and determine whether or not the structure is livable or will be to be condemned.

Utilities have been shut off until that determination, so the woman is now staying with her daughter.

The operator of the vehicle, 44-year-old Michael Waldo, was subsequently arrested and charged with DWI and unlicensed operation of a vehicle. He was transported to police headquarters, where his blood alcohol content was determined to be .19.