Car jumps Bronx sidewalk, five pedestrians hit

NEW YORK

The accident occurred just before 1 p.m. as the car, a gray Toyota Camry, was travelling east on Bergen Avenue, toward 149th Street.

Jose Lopez was also at the corner of 149th Street and Bergen Avenue just before 1 on Sunday afternoon.

The first thing witnesses remember hearing is a sound they say they'll never forget. Nick Garcia said it sounded like metal crumbling up.

The Toyota Camry made a screeching sound, first hitting the back right bumper of a parked SUV.

The vehicle then smashed into the front of a building, the force so hard, it left a gaping hole. The driver still could not get control of his car. Witnesses say the elderly man then kept going down the sidewalk, clipping the front left bumper of this Con Ed truck and then plowing into a crowd of people.

Garcia tells Eyewitness News that a man and a woman, who appeared to be a couple, didn't have time to react, along with a second man who seemed intoxicated.

Nick Garcia tells Eyewitness News that he has no doubt, he cheated death.

"One more minute I would have gotten hit," Garcia says.

Exclusive cell phone video shows the chaos, the injured and the car that without warning, barreled down a sidewalk packed with people.

"As soon as I crossed over, I heard a commotion behind me," said eyewitness Jose Lopez, "it happened pretty fast, one shot deal, everything."

"The man pushed his wife and when he pushed his wife, it swept all three of them," Garcia said, "the man just flipped up in the air and the drunk guy was out – both of them."

The heavily-damaged vehicle eventually stopped in the middle of 149th Street. The windshield was smashed in two spots, both sides of the car, dented and scratched.

Witnesses say, the driver was conscious but injured and that the man who pushed the lady out of the way, was in bad shape.

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