Police Vehicle Crashes Into Crowd in Bronx, Critically Injuring 2
The vehicle drove over a double yellow line, hit a car and careened onto the sidewalk, sending 10 people to the hospital, including two children, the authorities said.
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A Police Department vehicle crashed into another car in the Bronx and careened onto a sidewalk on Thursday, striking a crowd of pedestrians and sending 10 people to the hospital, including a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, a department official said at a news conference.
The official, Jeffrey B. Maddrey, the Police Department’s chief of patrol, said two officers were responding to a report of a stolen car when they drove over the double yellow line in the road to get around a vehicle that was in front of them. But their car quickly hit another vehicle and veered out of control, mounting the curb and slamming into a crowd of people.
“Of course we don’t want to see anybody injured, especially when the officers were trying to do the right thing,” he said. “They were trying to prevent a crime in progress, they were trying to apprehend someone who was ready to victimize a good person in the Bronx.”
Chief Maddrey said eight civilians were taken from the scene to nearby hospitals, and two were in critical condition. Officials had earlier said that four people were in critical condition.
He said that six of those civilians, including the 5-year-old, were injured on the sidewalk, and that two of them, including the 2-year-old, were passengers in the car that the police crashed into after they crossed the double yellow line.
The crash happened at around 3 p.m. near the intersection of Westchester and Hoe Avenues in the Foxhurst section of the Bronx, a police spokesman said. The officers were responding to a report of a car theft in progress, but the crash kept them from stopping the thief, Chief Maddrey said.
“They were trying to prevent that crime, but unfortunately the accident allowed that person to steal the vehicle,” he said.
Nelson Quiñoñes, 42, was working at a bodega when he saw the crash happen outside. He said he saw the police car strike the crowd, including a little girl and an older man known around the neighborhood for always dressing in red clothes.
He said the police car had been driving “real fast” when it struck the other vehicle.
“It was real crazy how the cops did that,” Mr. Quiñoñes said.
Pictures from the scene showed the vehicle impaled on a fence pole with its front section mangled. Spokesmen for the Police and Fire Departments said details about the victims were not immediately available on Thursday.
Police officers blocked off the intersection on Thursday afternoon, and local residents gathered to watch emergency responders on the scene. The police vehicle was on the sidewalk in front of a broken-off crosswalk light and what appeared to be a crumpled shopping cart.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/nyregion...ronx-crash.html
