Cops arrested the driver behind a horrific hit-and-run crash in Midtown on Wednesday that instantly killed one tourist and seriously injured another.
Police reported that the suspect allegedly operated a green minivan with a novelty license plate reading “Times Square” on the back.
According to Police sources, the bloody incident unfolded steps from the New York Public Library on 40th Street and 5th Avenue around 2:20 p.m. Cops say the driver of the green minivan reversed the vehicle and slammed into a 50-year-old woman and a 55-year-old man, pinning them both against a box truck.
The force of the impact left the female tourist decapitated, and the other man severely injured. The suspect fled inside the minivan thereafter.
Sources familiar with the investigation report that the victims are a married couple visiting the Big Apple from Germany.
Officers from the Midtown South Precinct responded along with EMS units, who pronounced the woman dead at the scene. Paramedics rushed the wounded man to Bellevue Hospital Center, but he is expected to survive his injuries.
Mindy Wyatt told amNewYork that she did not see the incident take place but she walked upon the graphic aftermath.
“I just saw blood all over the ground, and the guy trying to survive, like leaning up, and then the police came, but there was no ambulance, and then the guy just kind of disappeared, but the woman was still on the ground, and her head was off,” Wyatt said. ”I don’t know that I’ll ever unsee this.”
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene while EMS rushed the man to Bellevue Hospital; he is expected to survive his injuries.
During the preliminary investigation, cops described the minivan in question. A short time later, police apprehended the suspected hit-and-run 40-year-old driver at the corner of West 38th Street and Eighth Avenue. Authorities say the vehicle’s rear license plate is fake, reading Times Square, while the front plate hails from Mississippi.
Charges against the driver are pending.
Police sealed off the intersection 40th Street and 5th Avenue amid the graphic aftermath, and asked the public to steer clear of the area during the ongoing investigation
