STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Years prior to a horrific crash that left a beloved Staten Island business owner paralyzed, she described herself in an Advance/SILive.com interview as a “tenacious” person who “strives to be better.”

Diana Petrone, former owner of Not Just Bagels in Dongan Hills, will need every bit of that tenacity in the months and years ahead, following the Dec. 12 incident in New Springville.

A 48-year-old man driving with Petrone has been criminally charged, amid prosecutors’ claims that he intentionally drove a Cadillac Escalade into a tree.

Petrone, 43, is known not only as an entrepreneur, but also for her acts of goodwill in the community.