Spring Valley library director: Crash like a 'bomb' hit

SPRING VALLEY – A day after a Toyota RAV4 crashed through the front of the public library, injuring six, the library director was overseeing the cleanup of the extensive damage.

"I see what looks like a bomb hit the library," said Finkelstein Memorial Library Director Tracy Allen. "We have glass everywhere. We have a huge pile of wood and computers. It's pretty devastating."

The sport utility vehicle shattered the building's double glass front doors and cut the long circulation desk in half, smashing several desks and computers.

Allen, who became director of the county's largest library some 20 months ago, said there's no timetable for reopening the library, a longtime community center for people living in Spring Valley and the surrounding area.

As cleaning crews worked and the library's entrance remained boarded up, Allen said the repair costs will be determined by the library's insurance adjuster.

The saving grace for Allen and the first-responders is no one died in the crash, which happened around 7:40 p.m. Tuesday.

The injured include a 15-year-old girl who got hit and pinned under the vehicle

. Police said she was released from Westchester Medical Center on Wednesday.

The driver, Jean Lycee, 58, has been released from Nyack Hospital, Spring Valley police Lt. Jack Bosworth said. No charges have been filed; detectives are investigating Lycee's claim that mechanical trouble caused the car to speed forward out of control.

Spring Valley Fire Department volunteers, police and emergency medical technicians rescued the girl.

"(She) was right under the driver's side of the car," Spring Valley Fire Department Battalion Chief Ray Canario said. "We had all the equipment but it all came down to muscle. We pretty much picked the car up far enough to stabilize her and pull her out."

A woman – possibly the girl's aunt – crawled out from under the vehicle on her own.

Video of the crash shows Lycee driving cautiously as he entered the parking lot before suddenly accelerating, clipping a 2003 Infinity and then barreling between two stone posts, up the ramp and through the glass doors into the vestibule.

"A girl by the door jumps out of the way," Bosworth said. The car then veers to the left and crushes the circulation desk. "Shrapnel from the flying debris injures people."

The 15-year-old girl and the older woman "got sucked underneath the vehicle," Bosworth said.

The library, which was founded in 1917, serves more than 100,000 people in the East Ramapo School District. It has a collection of nearly 400,000 items and a circulation of almost 783,000 items per year. Its website describes the library as one of the most heavily used ones in the region, with more than 460,000 visitors annually.

Reporter James O'Rourke contributed to this story.