Three people are dead after a senior driver hopped a Queens curb with his vehicle and mowed down two pedestrians in a horrific morning crash on Tuesday.
According to police sources, an 84-year-old man was driving a 2010 Toyota Corolla northbound on 19th Avenue and 42nd Street in Astoria when he somehow lost control of his vehicle just before 8:40 a.m. on Aug. 12.
Police reported that the sedan then careened at a high rate of speed into a food truck, hitting two men standing nearby.
Cops say the Toyota then spun out of control and smashed into a Volvo sedan operated by a 42-year-old man, who was attempting to make a U-turn at the time.
Officers from the 114th Precinct and numerous EMS units responded to the carnage and encountered a hellish scene.
Debris from the crash and body parts were left strewn across the sidewalk and roadway, including food from the truck and twisted metal. The Toyota operated by the 84-year-old man was completely totaled — the front end rendered into a smashed metal heap, and blood covering the seats and deployed airbags inside.
EMS rushed the Toyota driver and one of the struck pedestrians, a 70-year-old man, to Elmhurst Hospital, where they were both pronounced dead. A third victim, a 42-year-old male pedestrian, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not yet released the identities of all three individuals, pending family notification.
A man who witnessed the chaos told amNewYork that he was lucky to escape with his life after the Toyota narrowly missed him.
“I was behind the cart with two gentlemen, and all of a sudden, we heard loud screeching tires and a loud engine roar. Someone screamed in shock, like ‘oh my god,’ and I just immediately stepped back without even looking, and a millisecond later, the car mauled the gentleman next to me. “The other gentleman ended up going into the car,” GianCarlo Caruso said. “I’d seen his brother screaming and trying to pull the door open. So, I just ran over to the door. I broke the door off, and people kept screaming, ‘Call 911!’”
Caruso said one of the victims was the owner of a nearby tire shop, a man who he described as kind.
“He was a really nice guy, a real gentleman. Honestly, I didn’t know him for that long. But, you know, you see somebody every day. It’s almost like you see him more than your family,” Caruso said.
The exact cause of the crash is being investigated by NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.
Tuesday’s deadly crash happened in the confines of Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s district. The lawmaker and candidate for mayor took to the social media platform BlueSky to offer his condolences to the victims and to call for increased street safety.
“A devastating crash in Astoria has left three people dead. I’m heartbroken for the victims and their loved ones,” he wrote. “We can’t normalize this. It’s time to commit to streets that are safe for everyone.”
