A driver allegedly drag-racing against another car lost control and careened up onto the sidewalk at Second Ave. and E. Fourth St. on Wednesday morning, injuring four people on the pavement in a horrific crash.
According to news reports, the driver may have been drunk or high on drugs, and was seen swerving down Second Ave. before his white Nissan Altima flew up onto the sidewalk just before 7 a.m.
Following the terrifying crash, the car’s driver, identified as Sean Martin, 32, was arrested at Bellevue Hospital, where he was being treated for his injuries. He was reportedly found to be carrying hashish in his sock. He refused to take a Breathalyzer test and was charged with D.W.I.
The Daily News said that Martin has a prior D.W.I. and a bust for cocaine possession.
Among the four people injured on the sidewalk were a male cyclist, 37, who had been aboard a Citi Bike, as well as two other men, ages 39 and 54, who were all listed in stable condition.
Mohammed Akash Ali, 62, who manned the flower shop outside the East Village Farm market on the corner, was the most seriously injured and was listed in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital.
A female passenger in the Altima was bleeding but able to walk under her own power after the crash.
The News reported witnesses saying that the Nissan had been roaring at 80 miles per hour and weaving through traffic minutes before the crash.
As it went up onto the sidewalk, the Nissan also knocked down a tree and tore a fire hydrant and a Muni-Meter out of the ground, as well as mangling bikes that were chained up to poles.
The white car, its front end smashed in, came to rest in the crosswalk at Fourth St., but the second car sped off, according to witnesses.
Later on Wednesday morning, the sidewalk along the west side of Second Ave. from midway on Fourth St. down to midway on Third St. was cordoned off by police as they conducted an investigation of the accident scene.
