Just before 8 a.m. at the intersection of Utica & Church avenues in east Flatbush Brooklyn, a female TLC officer parked a blue Chrysler sideways before a red minivan (not pictured) plowed into the car injuring four. (Paul Martinka)
A hit-and-run accident in Brooklyn injured four people and created a chaotic, tense scene this morning.
A red construction van T-boned a blue Chrysler sedan that had been seized by the TLC shortly before 7:45 a.m. in East Flatbush at Church and Utica Avenue, according to witnesses and TLC sources.
The sedan then plowed onto the sidewalk, hitting a TLC captain and three pedestrians, sources said.
Cops said the four were taken to Kings County Hospital, and were expected to survive. The captain was listed in stable condition.
The van driver abandoned his vehicle, and ran off. Police said he hasn’t been apprehended yet.
Witness accounts differed dramatically from authorities, and said the TLC captain had been pursuing the red construction van, then tried to cut off him before her vehicle was hit.
“They’re chasing the guy, trying to use that car there to block the guy, and the van hit them and put all the people that were on the sidewalk in the hospital,” said Dennis Troy, 35.
A TLC spokesman said its officers do not engage in car pursuits.
About a hundred people gathered on the sidewalk—some praying and singing, while others got into a confrontation with TLC officers and the cops, and smashed the windows of a TLC vehicle.
No one was arrested, and Jumaane Williams came to the scene to calm down the crowd.
Joseph, one of the victims at Kings County Hospital, described the grisly accident. “Some were badly hurt. Blood was all over,” he said. “One guy was pinned under the car. He pulled himself out, I don’t know how. I thought he was dead.”
Additional reporting by Dana Sauchelli