A chilling scene unfolded on a bustling Harlem street as surveillance footage captured a reckless driver dragging two cyclists along the road, with sparks flying from beneath the vehicle. The devastating incident occurred Thursday evening, resulting in one fatality and injuring four others.
Authorities reported that the driver, a 49-year-old whose identity remains undisclosed, was seen in the video recklessly pulling the victims, and possibly a bicycle, under the front of his Red Hyundai Tucson around 8:05 p.m. The driver made no attempt to halt the car, adding to the chaos of the situation.
Nearby pedestrians on West 125th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard were forced to leap out of harm’s way as the driver continued to “hit the gas,” according to both the footage and witness accounts.
“I saw two men lying there, unable to move, facedown,” recounted a witness who identified themselves only as C.B. “They were the cyclists who were hit and dragged by the car.”
C.B. further described the scene, stating, “The driver hit other cars and ran over people. One person was thrown into the air, while the other two were dragged until the car collided with a police vehicle. It then swerved to the side and stopped against a truck.”
Reflecting on the harrowing experience, C.B. added, “We came in from Minnesota for a funeral, and last night we nearly became part of another tragedy.”
The two cyclists, ages 33 and 28, were left sprawled out on the ground in a bus lane, according to witnesses and footage provided to the post.
“We saw the bike over there. The black [cyclist] was moving a little bit, his head was bleeding like crazy, but the Spanish guy looked like he was sleeping,” said a witness who works nearby.
“[The driver] looked like he was drunk or something,” the worker added. “You cannot speed like that.”
The driver slammed into parked NYPD cruiser and collided with a tractor-trailer truck after hitting the cyclists, according to witnesses and cops.
The injured cyclists were rushed to hospitals in critical condition and the 28-year-old was later pronounced dead, according to authorities.
The driver of the car was arrested and not injured. No charges have been announced.
