Teen pedestrian critical after car careens into Bronx storefront

LONGWOOD (WABC) -- A teenager was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after an out-of-control driver careened into a Bronx storefront Friday morning.

Authorities said a U-Haul and a car crashed, sending the vehicles onto the sidewalk and the car into the front of a beauty salon. The incident happened at Southern Boulevard and Barretto Street in the Longwood section of the Bronx.

"He didn't bother going towards the kid," an eyewitness said.

Police say the 36-year-old driver of the U-Haul was running from the scene of another accident and had a suspended license when he struck 17-year-old Amaru Millin.

"The U-Haul guy, tried to turn on the car and shift the car like he was going to leave. Me and some other guys told him 'don't move the car, get the hell out of the car, you aren't leaving,'" the eyewitness said.

The intersection of Southern Boulevard and Barretto Street was full of people when the accident happened just before 9 a.m. Friday in the Longwood Section of the Bronx.

"I saw the kid crossing the street. When the kid went to cross the street this U-Haul truck was speeding and it hit the kid and he landed over there," a woman said.

Investigators say the teen did not have the light, but was in the crosswalk when he got hit.

"It hit him real bad, hit him bad, knocked him unconscious," the woman said.

"I went to him, he was still breathing, I told him, 'don't move, stay on the floor', I saw a cop coming, and I told the cop, 'Come over here,'" the eyewitness said.

Police say around 8:30 a.m. the U-Haul hit another car at the intersection of Bruckner Boulevard and say those accident victims tried to chase him down, before the U-Haul hit the teen and then crashed into a parked car.

"Come on, if the light is yellow you have to be ready to stop, it doesn't say give it more gas keep it moving," the eyewitness said.

The 36-year-old driver is in police custody.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The intersection at Southern and Barretto remained closed for hours.