An inebriated man in a U.S. Marine Corps uniform kicked off the New Year by leading cops on a crazy chase through Sunset Park after driving his car along train tracks, abandoning it and then fleeing on foot into a tunnel, law enforcement source said.
It was not immediately clear where the driver entered the railroad but it may have been near the Gowanus Canal, sources said. He allegedly abandoned his black Dodge Charger, with the engine running, on Long Island railroad tracks near 64th Street and Sixth Avenue, Wednesday morning, far from any obvious street crossings.
The man, whose name has not been released, bailed from the car and ran into a tunnel, sparking terror fears and calls for additional police response, sources said.
“You can see his tire tracks,” one law enforcement source said. “The driver got in down by the water. He was driving on the shoulder all the way until he got to these two pipes sticking up. That blocked him. Then he tried to drive up onto the tracks to get around and got hung up on the rail.”
Police took the man to the 72 Precinct for questioning but do not believe he intended any harm, sources said.
“It was just a drunk guy, not some crazy terror plot,” one source explained.