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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Driver in crash won’t be charged

A man who drove his sports utility vehicle into a Hanukkah party won’t face charges in the crash, which police said Friday may have been caused by a stuck floor mat.

Thursday’s crash injured 14 people, including the 76-year-old driver, psychologist Theodore Saretsky.

Saretsky, of Atlantic Beach, was released from the hospital Friday. Two children remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Friday at Nassau University Medical Center, spokeswoman Linda Cianciulli said.

Nassau County investigators are looking at the possibility that the the vehicle’s floor mat was stuck between the gas pedal and brake when Saretsky lost control of the car, police spokesman John Mullaney said.

Saretsky swerved his 2007 BMW X3 left and drove through a plate-glass window into the building where Orthodox Jewish families were celebrating the fifth day of Hanukkah. About 150 people were at the party.

Chicago

Governor vents with TV reporter

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Friday that if what he’s done as Illinois governor is an impeachable offense, he’s living on the “wrong planet” and is in the “wrong place.”

Speaking to a WLS-TV reporter outside a Chicago law office, the governor said he was hired to fight for the people of Illinois and that’s what he’s been doing.

The interview marked the first time Blagojevich has spoken to the media since giving a defiant three-minute speech last Friday.

The 52-year-old Democrat is charged with scheming to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Federal prosecutors built their case against the governor using wiretapped conversations riddled with profanity.

“Look, if I’d have known people were listening, I probably wouldn’t have said some of the things you say in private conversations,” Blagojevich said Friday. “But I think there’s probably tens of millions of people across America who talk like that from time to time.”

From wire reports