STATEN ISLAND, NY — A Sayreville woman has been charged with drunk driving after a deadly early-morning crash on Staten Island that killed a 66-year-old woman and sent three other people to the hospital. Police said the collision happened on Oct. 10 on the West Shore Expressway and involved a wrong-way SUV, a sedan and a Jeep.
The woman who died was Duck Park, who worked as a home health aide. According to reports cited by local media, she was driving to church when the crash happened. The other two New Jersey drivers survived the wreck, though all three were taken to Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition.
Police say wrong-way driving triggered the deadly crash
Authorities said Shannon Theodore, 36, of Somerset, was driving a Range Rover Velar northbound in the southbound lanes of the expressway when she struck Park’s Kia Seltos head-on at about 5:35 a.m. The impact set off a chain reaction that involved another vehicle moments later.
Police said Theodore’s vehicle was going the wrong direction on the highway when the collision occurred. Theodore was also accused of driving under the influence. She has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and refusal to take a breath test, according to the New York Post.
The head-on collision killed Park at the scene. Her family has said she was on her way to church at the time of the crash, adding a grim personal detail to an already violent morning wreck.
Another New Jersey driver was also arrested after the crash
In a separate development, Nathaly Costa, 21, of Sayreville, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and driving while impaired by alcohol in connection with the crash. She was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that struck the other vehicles after the initial collision, police said.
Both Costa and Theodore were among those transported to the hospital after the crash. Costa had two passengers in her Jeep, and police said she, her passengers and Theodore all arrived at Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition.
Park was the only person killed. The crash left investigators sorting out the sequence of impacts, but police have said Theodore was the driver whose wrong-way movement first caused the deadly head-on collision.
The victim was a health aide remembered through the details of her last trip
Park’s death has drawn attention because of the ordinary routine she was following before the crash. Her husband told media outlets that she was headed to church when she was killed, turning a morning commute into a fatal encounter on a major Staten Island roadway.
She worked as a home health aide, a role that often involves caring for people in their homes and assisting with daily needs. That background, along with the circumstances of the crash, has made her death especially painful for those who knew her.
Police have not released additional public details about Park beyond her age and her role as a caregiver. The known facts so far place her at the center of a case that involves multiple drivers, alcohol allegations and a wrong-way highway collision.
Court proceedings followed the crash as investigators moved ahead
According to NJ.com, Theodore pleaded not guilty at her arraignment last week. The criminal case is moving forward as prosecutors review the crash, the alleged alcohol impairment and the wrong-way driving that authorities say led to Park’s death.
Theodore also works in New Jersey as an attorney, according to the same account. Police said the charges against her reflect both the fatality and the allegation that she had been driving drunk when the crash occurred.
Costa’s case is separate from Theodore’s. Although Costa was also charged, police said she was not the driver who caused the initial head-on impact that killed Park. The crash remains a painful example of how quickly an early-morning highway collision can turn fatal.
What is known about the Oct. 10 crash so far
The crash happened on the West Shore Expressway on Staten Island, one of the borough’s major roadways. Police said the collision unfolded in the southbound lanes after Theodore entered the wrong direction and struck Park’s vehicle head-on.
After that impact, Costa’s Jeep hit the other vehicles. All four people involved who were taken to the hospital survived, but Park did not. The facts released so far show a rapidly unfolding sequence that left one woman dead and two separate New Jersey drivers facing charges.
Investigators have attributed the fatal crash to wrong-way driving and suspected intoxication. For Park’s family, however, the case is defined less by the charges than by the loss of a woman who was simply trying to get to church.