Deer strikes car on Bridge Street: Smashes window and vaults over the vehicle

Father Peter DeSanctis said he was thanking his “Guardian Angel” after  a deer charged his car on a full run on Bridge Street Thursday, smashed the passenger side of the front widow and soared over the top of the vehicle.

The pastor of Our Lady Of the Isle Church was on his way to the Community Center to attend a “Lunch and Learn Luncheon” program for seniors on opioid addiction. Driving slowly, as he always does on Bridge Street, Father DeSanctis said, he was passing Picozzi’s gas station on his right, just about to make the turn to go up the hill, when he saw sudden movement from the corner of his eye.  

“The deer looked like he charged out between the gas pumps right onto the road and smashed the passenger side window and then went over the car,” he said. 

Video shows the scene as Father DeSanctis described it, with the deer vaulting the car, falling in front of Marie Eiffel’s, scrambling to its feet and then moving off down Bridge Street. 

Father DeSanctis said his Guardian Angel was on the job. “If he had come though the driver’s side of the window, well … My number finally came up. I’m 50 years on Shelter Island, I was due,” he said, noting he had never struck a deer driving or had one hit him. 

After the remarkable incident, he  continued to drive on North Ferry Road he said. About a quarter mile down the road he saw Police Officer James Read III on patrol. He stopped and the officer took him to the Community Center where other officers were attending the event. 

Father DeSanctis thanked other members of the force, including Chief James Read, Detective Andrew Graffagnino and Sergeant Antony Rando. He offered special thanks to Principal Police Clerk Jennifer Beresky for helping him with paperwork and finding a company to replace his window.

“Small matters may get me all irritated, but in big matters it’s different,” he said. “I didn’t flinch when the deer hit the car. My first thought was, ‘Well, I’m blessed not to have been killed.’ And number two was, ‘I’ve got to get this window fixed.’”