2 dead, 5 injured when car jumps curb, goes onto sidewalk in Brooklyn
Two people were killed and five were injured after a car crashed and jumped a curb before going onto a sidewalk in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon.
The crash was reported at 6401 18th Ave at 64th Street just before 1 p.m.
Officials say the vehicle, a white sedan, was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver ran a red light and struck a black SUV trying to cross, took down a pole, jumped a curb, hit a second vehicle and then struck multiple pedestrians.
“I see this guy try to get out windshield,” said Soliman Thabet who took video on his cell phone. “He was bleeding. I see the other car. Her shoulder out. This other guy wasn’t breathing. So, they give him heart pressure.”
More cell phone video captured a good Samaritan smashing a window to help extricate passengers inside the twisted black SUV. The driver of that vehicle was one of the two that were killed. The other was a pedestrian.
The FDNY said there was a total of seven patients, including the two who were killed.
Police say one victim is in critical condition and the four other victims are all in stable condition and expected to survive.
The sedan came to a stop when it struck a light pole.
Witnesses say they heard a big bang and they say after the crash the driver appeared to be intoxicated.
“I heard a a big sound, when I came out I saw this guy out of the windshield, he was bleeding,” witness Salaman Thabet said. “I see the other car, this lady, her shoulder was out, the guy they tried to pull him out, he wasn’t breathing so they tried to give him heart pressure. He wasn’t making it.”
The 49-year-old driver is in custody and being questioned. Police are investigating whether or not the driver was under the influence.
No charges have been filed so far.