Woman Injured, Car Totaled, After Hitting Turkey on Parkway

A driver who lost control of her car after hitting a turkey on the Merritt Parkway early Monday morning was transported to with minor injuries, according to State Police.

Trooper Kelly Grant said Izabel Difigueiredo, 51, of Mount Vernon, NY, was driving northbound just before 7 a.m. when the accident occurred. Difigueiredo sustained injuries to her head and arm. 

A state police report says Difigueiredo was driving her 2000 Toyota RAV 4 northbound when she struck the turkey. 

Assistant Fire Chief Jack Hennessey said , firefighters and volunteer ambulance corps responded to the accident, which occurred just north of exit 37.

“The lady lost control of her car and slid some 100 feet off the road into the woods,” Hennessey said. “The car flipped two, three, as many as a half dozen times before coming to rest on its side.”

Hennessey said fire fighters used the Jaws of Life and other saws to pull Difigueiredo through the roof of her vehicle. He said emergency responders were speaking to her while working to free her. The fire department was on the scene for about an hour, he said.

Grant said the vehicle was totaled in the accident.

Difigueiredo was issued a summons for operating without a license, operating without insurance and for failure to maintain the lane.