At least one Syracuse University student was involved in a two-car collision outside the entrance to Thornden Park on Ostrom Avenue Monday afternoon at about 1 p.m. One individual was injured and driven away from the scene by an ambulance.

Hao Peng, a graduate student in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science was driving a silver Lexus the opposite way on a one-way street to exit from Thornden Park onto Ostrom. Peng said he did not realize the Ostrom entrance was a one-way street, and he drove straight out of the entrance, colliding with a Dodge Jeep 4×4.

‘It was totally my fault,’ Peng said. ‘There was no stop sign because this is a one way street, and I was traveling in the wrong direction.’

The Syracuse Police Department arrived shortly after the crash, and an officer said the driver of the Dodge was injured and taken away from the scene by an ambulance.

The left side of the bumper, the left headlight and the hood of the Lexus were badly mangled, as was the right front end of the Dodge. The driver’s side air bag in the Lexus was deployed. Both vehicles were registered with New York state license plates.

Fragments of metal and plastic covered Ostrom and parts of University Avenue near the entrance of the park and the surrounding sidewalks.

A tow truck from MC’s Towing arrived at 1:20 p.m. to retrieve the Lexus. A tow truck from John’s Auto Body came shortly after to claim the Dodge.

Traffic slowed around the accident until about 2 p.m., when police and the tow trucks left the scene.

rebarill@syr.edu 

Published on January 23, 2012 at 12:00 pm