A brazen driver led cops on a wild chase through the Upper West Side, Central Park and Upper East Side on Sunday evening, striking a male pedestrian and sending scores more fleeing in terror, cops and witnesses said.
The struck pedestrian suffered minor injuries, including bruising and scraps to his left leg and right arm, police said.
The chase began after police tried to pull over William Hankerson, 39, for a suspended plate on his black Honda Accord, when he fled northbound around 6:30 p.m., cops said.
Hankerson sped his Honda on Broadway near Columbus Circle, where he hit the bystander, according to cops and witnesses.
The unidentified man was taken to Bellevue Hospital, cops said.
The Honda was then hit in the rear by a cop car and tried to make a U-turn on a crowded sidewalk, witnesses said.
“The guy was all over the place and then around 62nd [Street], the cop ran into the guy’s fender and pushed him onto the curb,” said witness Ben Sandstrom. “His car peaked off the curb again … and went up on the sidewalk.
“It was crazy. At least 30 people were on the sidewalk trying to get out of the way,” Sandstrom said.
The chase continued north on Central Park West, where Hankerson cut through the park to the East Side. He was eventually stopped by cops in the intersection of Park Avenue and East 79th Street.
“The cop cars surrounded him. One police car hit on the backside, and he spun a little bit,” witness Robert Halperin said. “The other [cop car] blocked him in front.”
Cops pulled Hankerson from the car as he kept resisting arrest before eventually being subdued and arrested.
“He was resisting arrest,” Halperin said. “He tried to get out of the car, but they subdued him and got him on the ground.”
Hankerson was hit with a slew of charges including vehicular assault, assault on a police officer and reckless endangerment, cops said.