Husband of woman struck by SUV in Long Island mall parking lot speaks out

HUNTINGTON STATION, New York (WABC) -- The husband of a woman struck by an SUV after a battle over a mall parking spot on Long Island is speaking out.

Manuel Rivera blinks back tears just thinking about it. His 73-year old wife Helen is lying in a hospital room and he's furious.

He says it happened outside Bloomingdale's at the Walt Whitman Mall, where Mr. Rivera had just dropped off his wife and sister-in-law. They suddenly spotted an open handicapped parking space, and the two women stood there to hold it.

As he circled around, Mr. Rivera says another driver rolled up and tried to take the space.

"This guy came in out of nowhere, he didn't wait for nothing, he just said get out of my way," said Mr. Rivera.

With that, he says the car barreled headlong into Mrs. Rivera.

"She was in pain, a broken leg and a cut on the head," Mr. Rivera said.

Police marked off the scene and seized the man's Honda SUV. One eyewitness later told detectives that the 83-year old driver and his passenger were irate: "They started yelling at the woman on the ground. I think they were in shock".

Police say the driver lives in Jericho, Long Island. No one answered the door at his home there Wednesday afternoon. Shoppers were stunned by the news.

And late Wednesday morning, Manuel Rivera left his home for his wife's bedside, where the two will celebrate their wedding anniversary Thursday in a hospital room.

"People going crazy, that's what it is," said Mr. Rivera.

Investigators spent the night interviewing the 84-year old. The Suffolk DA's newly formed vehicular crimes unit waswaiting for a search warrant for the black box in his car to find out how fast he was driving, and if he actually was aiming for his parking space rival.