A black Mercedes slammed into a taxi on 68th street and Columbus and rolled up onto the sidewalk next to restaurant Il Violino Tuesday evening a little before 6 p.m. The vehicle was being pursued by an unmarked police car before the collision, according to NBC. The car had initially been pulled over for driving through a light; the driver took of when police wanted to question him about something in the backseat, according to ABC. NBC reported that the vehicle was traveling east on 68th before the crash, but other reports are unclear on the direction of the vehicles.
After the Mercedes hit the cab, the driver got out and started running but was caught by police, according to NBC. The car continued to roll until it hopped the curb and came to a stop just in front of the restaurant. The 20th precinct only told us that “the incident is currently under investigation” but gave no other details.
“The driver of the taxi hit by the suspect said he was alone in the taxi and wasn’t hurt aside from a sore back.”
One man is in custody and police are looking for at least one other person, according to ABC.
Jeff M. sent in the photos above and below. Click to enlarge.
Photo below by Julie Godsoe.
@westsiderag car on sidewalk at 68/colum pic.twitter.com/XknpnHlYO2
— Julie Godsoe (@JKNGodsoe) June 2, 2015
Correction: This article initially misstated the direction of the vehicles.
The driver was probably Bill de Blasio.
Who let Stupid Joke Guy into the Comments?
He was late for a meeting and had to run the light. The item on the back seat was a box of “I hate Mario Quomo T-Shirts.”
Aha same person who let in Stupid Comeback Joke guys. LOL 🙂 so SAD.. so little personality and so much time on their hands…
Opps. I meant Andrew Coumo
That was a good one!
🙂
Driver was a Dominican named Espinal, apparently.
Some 5 or 6 years back, on 71st Street at Broadway, I saw a man furiously running East; then one more followed. Apparently, they were running after two young guys. They didn’t catch up with them — but — as they reached Columbus, two other very fit men, in street clothes also, accosted the culprits.
I reached Columbus as a marked police car arrived and heard one of the 4 plain-clothed cops say, “You didn’t think we’d catch up with you, did you?”
So, perhaps we have (or had) more protection than we realize.
I figure the taxi drivers “sore back” will morph into a million dollar NYC sponsored payday.
“DRIVER being pursued by cops jumps curb”. We have to stop pretending that car crashes are unavoidable accidents with no driver responsibility.
You wouldn’t run a headline saying “Man shot by gun”
Apparently the guy got out of the car Before it went rolled up onto curb and into restaurant.He wasn’t even in the car when it happened. Not to condone it all but no driver in car. Just saying!
In this particular instance, the car was driver-less when it jumped the curb. WSR
Actually, the car did jump the curb.
After leaving the car, and while running away, the driver may have jumped this curb and many others.
I think we’re all aware that the bike activists are trying to change the semantics around car accidents, but this is a terrible, terrible example to hang your helmet on.
Crash, not accident. People impacted by crashes are focused on wording that accurately reflects drivers’ responsibility. I know accident is a colloquialism, but it trivializes the consequences of irresponsible driving and absolves the driver of accountability. Calling it a crash or collision helps us get to the root cause and think about effective prevention.
Think of the 4-ton AC unit that crashed to Madison Ave in Midtown on Sunday after a crane cable snapped. I think we all know the people running that rig didn’t intend for their unit to plummet 30 stories to the street. We still don’t shrug it off with, oh well, accidents happen, nobody’s perfect all the time right?
I think your presumption that drivers are always responsible for accidental or purposeful “crashes” is wrong.
Re: “You wouldn’t run a headline saying “Man shot by gun”
Well, what if it were the “Guns” used to make Quaker Puffed Wheat and/or Puffed Rice (the cereals “Shot From Guns)?
Which recalls the possibly-true story about an olden-days newspaper headline: “Woman Shot! Bullet In Her Yet!”
Seems like a terrible place to have a bullet stuck!
🙂
In spite of the late Brian Moore, this policeman was willing to question what was in the back of the suspect’s vehicle. I’m grateful.
It looks as though our police have not gotten into the no-arrest stance now prevalent in Baltimore.
What was in the back seat? A full scale car chase on theUWS or anywhere else in the city should only be engaged in for serious matters as the risk of injury to bystanders is a great as the crash shows.
Do we know that this was a “full-scale” car chase?
Do we know what was in the back seat?
Wow. Talk about a clear and present danger. I assume the Mercedes has been impounded. Wonder how long is the license suspension after fleeing police and driving across a residential sidewalk before crashing into a building.