Driver applying her makeup
dies in crash
Loses control on Bronx highway, hits tree
BY JONATHAN LEMIRE and ERNIE NASPRETTODAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Cop checks Mitsubishi that ended up in trees in crash that killed driver Lusaed Perez, 34, when she ran off a curve on Henry Hudson Parkway yesterday morning. Other drivers said they saw her putting on makeup while she was driving.
Most drivers have done it - fiddled with a CD, talked on a cell phone or scolded a child while behind the wheel, getting momentarily distracted from the road. But a Yonkers woman who tried another mundane task while driving - putting on her makeup - paid a terrible price yesterday when she lost control of her car on the Henry Hudson Parkway in the Bronx and slammed into a tree, police said.
Lusaed Perez, 34, went into cardiac arrest and later died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Yonkers, police said.
“There was makeup all over the air bag,” said a police source.
Open containers of cosmetics also were found in the front seat, the source said.
Perez was driving a 2005 black Mitsubishi northbound on the parkway about 7 a.m. when she veered off the road by a bend where the Henry Hudson turns into the Saw Mill River Parkway, police said.
Alone in the car and not wearing a seatbelt, Perez careened over 200 feet of grass before hitting a tree, authorities said.
Witnesses driving alongside Perez told cops they saw her applying makeup as she drove, the source said.
But a family friend doubted the story.
“She doesn’t even really wear makeup,” said Alberto Irizarry, 31, who stopped by Perez’s and her husband’s home last night to fetch some belongings. “Just when she goes to church, or for a special occasion. I’m still kind of in shock. I couldn’t stop crying earlier.”
Neighbors at the seven-story building where Perez’s husband, Jose, is the superintendent described her as quiet and pretty.
Her family was due to arrive in New York from Florida last night to spend the holidays with Perez, Irizarry said.
“She was very fun and loving. She used to joke around a lot. She made people laugh,” he said.
Instead of arriving last night to see Perez for the holiday, her family changed their reservations, he added.
“They came up this afternoon instead.”
Originally published on December 22, 2006