1 dead, 4 hurt after driver loses control while parking in Chinatown
CHINATOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A driver is under arrest after police say his vehicle went out-of-control in Chinatown Monday night, leaving one man dead and four other people injured.
The accident happened around 6:45 p.m. at Canal and Forsyth Streets.
Authorities say the driver of a Toyota minivan lost control of his vehicle while parallel parking, jumping the curb and hitting a fruit stand.
Surveillance video showed him backing up and trying to park, but police say for some reason he hit the gas and the vehicle suddenly accelerated.
"The car just suddenly appeared and banged into the wall backward," said witness Jin Lin, who saw several pedestrians trapped between the vehicle and the wall. "I was just so shocked."
The man killed was identified as 56-year-old Chun Deng Zhang, of Flushing, Queens.
The injured pedestrians were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where two are listed in critical but stable condition and two in serious but stable condition. All are expected to survive.
The driver, 70-year-old Henry Herman of Monroe, NY, remained at the scene.
He was arrested and charged with seven counts each of failure to yield, failure to exercise due care, unsafe backing of a vehicle, and driving on/across a sidewalk.
Two people inside the minivan, including the driver, refused medical attention.
Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement about the crash on social media:
The investigation is ongoing.
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