A crash Tuesday on Middle Country Road in St. James injured five people after one of the two vehicles involved careened across oncoming traffic and into a nearby Jiffy Lube, police and fire officials said.

The crash, reported at 2:22 p.m., involved two Lexus vehicles, officials said at the scene.

A Mini Cooper being serviced at the Jiffy Lube was damaged in the crash, officials said.

The injured include two Jiffy Lube employees, a customer, one of the drivers and a passenger, authorities said.

A Lexus SUV, heading east on Middle Country Road, was preparing to turn at Huber Place when its driver instead continued going straight, struck the back of a Lexus hatchback, Nesconset Fire Chief Joseph Capogna said.

The hatchback spun out of control and then veered across the street, narrowly missing oncoming traffic, before it crashed into the bay of the Jiffy Lube, Capogna said.

The two Jiffy Lube employees and a woman whose Mini Cooper was being serviced were injured, Capogna said. The woman was knocked into the net of a service bay. The Lexus hatchback also crashed into the Mini Cooper.

A driver and passenger in that Lexus were also injured.

Another employee in the Jiffy Lube declined medical attention, Capogna said.

The driver of the Lexus SUV remained at the scene and was not injured. He filed a report with police and left with minor front end damage to his vehicle, officials said.

Smithtown Building Department officials posted a notice on the Jiffy Lube, deeming it an unsafe building due to structural damage.

The Lexus and Mini Cooper remained in the oil change shop while the outside of the building was boarded up.

Jiffy Lube employees declined to comment.

Mario Castro, who owns Lee Myles Transmission next door, said he was working on a car outside when the crash occurred.

"I saw the dust coming out of the front and flying into the bay," Castro said. "I see the lady lying on the floor and I tried to help her. They were working inside of the bay. They're lucky nobody got killed. It's unbelievable."

The St. James crash is the latest in a series involving vehicles and businesses.

In February, a Chinese restaurant in Farmingdale was struck for the second time in as many years when a driver careened into two parked vehicles, setting off a fire, then crashed into the restaurant, the Nassau County Police Department said at the time.

Last June, a drunken driver killed four people and injured nine others when he drove his SUV through a Deer Park nail salon, Suffolk police said.

A Newsday investigation published Sunday found traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people across Long Island over the decade ending in 2023, according to data compiled by the Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research.

Another 16,000 victims suffered severe injuries, including skull fractures, internal injuries, broken or distorted limbs, unconsciousness, severe lacerations or burns.