Two men, reportedly including a father of triplets, were killed, and three others were critically injured Friday night after a suspected drunk driver lost control of his car and plowed onto a New York City sidewalk.
The violent crash happened around 6 p.m. in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood near the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 109th Street, the NYPD told The Independent.
The 61-year-old driver, who has not been identified, was driving a black Mercedes-Benz SUV when he allegedly lost control of the car, striking multiple parked vehicles before jumping the curb and crashing into a group of men gathered outside a barber shop.
“It was unsettling, truly unsettling. It looked like a Halloween set-up. Just his head and his arms were completely disfigured,” witness David Lawrence, who decided the scene was a “horror show,” told the New York Post about one of the deceased men being pinned under the driver’s car.
Surveillance video obtained by the outlet showed the sedan speeding through an intersection moments before the collision.
Two men, ages 35 and 46, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Three other victims, ages 36, 44 and 51, were taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Police have not publicly identified the victims. However, loved ones gathered outside St. Luke’s Hospital told the New York Post that the older victim was a doorman who had just gotten off work when he was killed, while the other worked at a hospital and was the father of triplets.
The driver was taken into custody, and the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is continuing to investigate the incident, a department spokesperson said.
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