Man Sinks Van in Apparent Feud With Dad

Picnickers and park visitors were startled into a scattered frenzy Saturday when a man drove straight into a Central Park pond, apparently with the intention of sinking the minivan.

The driver, identified as 30-year-old Anthony Romo, sped down a pedestrian path in a teal-blue Nissan Quest, blowing past pedestrians and straight into the pond near East Drive and 106th Street, the Daily News reported.

He emerged from the sinking vehicle and said, "My father cares more about that van than he does about me," witnesses told the paper.

A man who identified himself as Romo's father told the Daily News he had gotten into a fight with his son earlier in the day. He called police and after Romo's girlfriend and her father refused to leave his apartment.

Romo drove off in the 1997 Nissan Quest about noon.

"He's actually a really wonderful person," his father told the Daily News.

Romo, who was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in stable condition, faces reckless driving and reckless endangerment charges, according to the New York Post.

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