With reporting by Stacie Joy
Updated below with info from the NYPD
We heard about a high-speed car chase through parts of the East Village today just after noon. We haven't been able to piece it all together just yet.
A second clip includes an ending showing the NYPD towing the car on the Lower East Side. There is no word yet on what happened to the driver (and any occupants in the vehicle).
We reached out to the NYPD for more information about what transpired today... (see below)
Two NYPD sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case, told EVG's Stacie Joy that the driver "stole" his own car from the impound lot in Brooklyn.
We received reader reports of a Dodge Charger tearing down Second Avenue, turning on Second Street, and driving up on the sidewalk on the south side of the street to avoid the vehicles stopped at the light.
The car exits the sidewalk, sending pedestrians scurrying, crossing First Avenue, and heading the wrong way eastbound on Second Street. There is one eyewitness report of the driver abruptly abandoning the car on Avenue C, sparking a foot chase.
A TikTok user captured 11 seconds of the chase from the SE corner of First Avenue and Second Street. (Unfortunately, the embed code isn't working. The link is here.)
[Updated]
The clip is now on Instagram, too...
Officers spotted the car in the 5th Precinct, which serves Little Italy, Chinatown and the Bowery. The car continued into the 9th Precinct and the 7th Precinct before the driver was apprehended with assistance from the NYPD Aviation Unit back in the 5th Precinct.
The chase remains under investigation, and the sources said the narrative could change.
24 comments:
I was walking up Essex Street from Delancey. I had just crossed street at Rivington when I heard the Dodge coming charging down at like 60 mph from Houston. There was gravel from the construction on Essex that flew and hit me. A few seconds later about a dozen cop cars came flying down chasing him. I was with my daughter with a stroller, had I crossed the street 5 seconds later we would have both been struck…
That car should not be on the sidewalk.
The Usual Suspects.
"Teens."
The bench connection …
It's easy to second guess and ultimately the person who stole this car is responsible, but why would the police engage someone, in a muscle car, on a high speed chase through such a heavily populated area in the middle of the day? It was beautiful yesterday and there were so many people outside. Per the commenter above, this could have ended tragically.
I wish the NYPD would address the daily shit show that is 14th Street between First Ave and Avenue A with the same level of urgency. Every day there are people selling stolen merch, shooting drugs, jerking off, and harassing local businesses. Last week there was a man flying down the sidewalk on a Citi Bike with a broomstick with a knife taped to the end of it. Nearly slashed someone in the face. With the summer coming the situation is only going to get worse.
My boyfriend and I had the walk sign and were crossing the street. This guy came charging towards us, at least 70mph, and we had about three seconds to make a life or death decision. Thank god my boyfriend pushed me out of the road in time. I think we saw maybe 30 cop cars chasing the person, as well as helicopters. We’re still shaken up, probably 50/50 we survived that
tik-tok link doesnt work for me. after a google image search I found this Instagram link to short video: https://www.instagram.com/newyorkers/reel/C6jnx3puZHZ/
NYC is becoming more and more like the wild West. So sad and scary
No it’s really not. Those of us who are old enough to remember the 70’s and 80’s can attest to that.
Post pandemic behavior in a criminal sense feels like it has gone awry. Maybe jeb1 wasn't around in the 70's and 80's? I agree it was worse back then but to shut down a person's opinion on what is going down on our streets these days is not cool.
The City keeps making street/traffic changes and adding laws to "calm" vehicles and supposedly protect pedestrians etc.
But these City changes only impact on careful/lawful drivers.
The City's efforts do nothing to address the issue of unlawful drivers such as in this instance.
It is the Unlawful drivers who cause the majority of crashes/incidents/injuries/fatalities. And most occur at night.
Unlawful includes drugs/alcohol, speeding, driving in connection to committing another crime, high speeding, racing, unlicensed etc.
Murder probably peaked in early 90's but gunshot wounds, stabbings, and other forms of assault are more survivable today so there's that. The Mafia and paying tribute to them was also at its height. Gay bashing was a big thing back then. In fact being a homo was still considered a sickness that could be cured by electro-shock therapy as had happened to Lou Reed to make him normal. The cops were uniformly corrupt, and crack cocaine was out of control. I believe deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill ended around the early 70's. Landlords no longer burn down their buildings en masse to collect insurance. Crime was actually even worse because so many crimes went unreported. So from 1995 onwards (gentrification) things seemed to trending in the right direction. Post Covid, just anecdotally, I would say things are getting worse. When tube of toothpaste is in locked display case that's crazy.
@ Notorious
"why would the police engage someone, in a muscle car, on a high speed chase through such a heavily populated area"
I saw this guy on 2nd ave. earlier in the chase. He was going the wrong way on 2nd ave. at probably 60+ mph, then screeched onto 7th st. going west. A cop car was about 5 seconds behind him, also going the wrong way on 2nd ave. at high speed.
I'm of two minds about the cops chasing him. Yes, car chases are very dangerous to other vehicles and bystanders; this has been known and analyzed in law enforcement for decades.
On the other hand, this dude is a clear danger to the community; absolutely zero consideration for the safety of others and quite willing to engage in recklessly dangerous crimes. If they don't chase him while they have a good chance of catching him, he probably gets away, free to do something equally or more dangerous in the future.
So there's two conflicting goals to balance in situations like this. For what it's worth, NYPD does have an official policy on car pursuits, and officers are supposed to break them off if the value of catching the suspect is not worth the risk to bystanders. Obviously, that puts the decision in the hands of fallible humans, some of whom are undoubtedly too aggressive in a general way, all in the heat of the moment.
If I was driving the cop car chasing him the wrong way up 2nd ave. (which was filled with pedestrians), I probably would have backed off. On the other hand, I really hope they caught this asshole, who is plainly really dangerous to the rest of us.
Spot on
I hope they caught the driver of that car I walk down East 2nd Street on the south side of that sidewalk all the time and there is very little room from the building garbage bins alongside of the building to the tree stands on that sidewalk for that car to get through. It was very fortunate that the sidewalk was free of pedestrians and the driver did not kill anyone.
I must have caught the beginning, sometime before noon. I was walking up 3rd Ave, around 7th or 8th St., when the muscle car came speeding North on 3rd— looked like it might be running up N on the southbound side of the Avenue. Almost immediately, there were five police cars speeding by, but they were going South (one made a Uturn); they also seemed to be heading into the wrong lane to make up time. Very mysterious.
Crime rates have been dropping for decades and, except for a brief period during the worst of covid, continues. Fear-mongering pols, like Addumbs, keep harping on nonexistent crime to get votes and sadly, lots of suckers fall for it. But the data simply aren't there.
They didn't "shut down" anyone's opinion. They just offered perspective.
Did any pedestrian or another car was hit? No. So maybe ease a bit that old routine of immediate criticism of NYPD without knowing details and facts.
@ 1:15 Thank you for that additional perspective. I'm very grateful for everything the NYPD does, particularly these days where judges let seemingly everyone right back out on the streets.
car chase does seem somewhat dubious- this isn't GTA
Enough of the 70s and 80s bs. I hear this from older people all the time. Do you know it was worse everywhere then and that is not something we should compare to now. NYC is definitely worse. Loud and dangerous cars like this are EVERYWHERE now. Sit at the bridges and tunnels and pull them over. People who have illegally modified cars are not our best and brightest and should be punished for terrorizing us on a daily basis, including this horrific event.
Caught abd arrested:
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/05/04/car-thief-evades-police-in-wild-manhattan-pursuit-later-tracked-down-by-cops-and-k9/
Landlords no longer burn down their buildings en masse to collect insurance.
Urban legend. Insurance companies weren’t stupid. If investigators found any hint of arson, there’s no payoff.
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