NYPD searching for hit-and-run driver who smashed into cyclist in Greenwich Village
GREENWICH VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Police are searching for a suspect after he struck a cyclist in a hit-and-run crash in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The incident happened shortly after 3 p.m. at Mercer Street and West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village.
Police initially wanted to speak with the suspect, a 19-year-old man wearing a red-hooded Nike sweatshirt, at Washington Square Park about a criminal sale of a controlled substance, according to police.
Sources say the suspect panicked when he was approached by police, got into a car, a black Ford Fusion with tinted windows and Pennsylvania plates, and began driving the wrong way on Mercer Street and struck the 44-year-old male cyclist in the bike lane.
Sources say officers were not pursuing the suspect in a police car. After the impact, sources say the suspect took off in the Ford Fusion before ditching the car near 156 Prince St.
NewsCopter 7 was over Prince Street between Thompson Street and West Broadway Street, where police found the abandoned Ford Fusion with a cracked windshield.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition, according to sources.
The suspect is still on the run, but police say they know who they are looking for.
The investigation remains ongoing.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
