An out-of-control car jumped the curb, plowed through crowds of stunned pedestrians and crashed into the steps of the Manhattan state Supreme Court building yesterday, injuring six people.
Dozens of others outside 60 Centre St. dove for cover after the booming crash ignited fears of a terrorist attack.
The driver, Lorenzo Bello, 33, of Ridgewood, Queens, was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he told cops he had suffered a seizure behind the wheel. He was charged with reckless endangerment and aggravated unlicensed operation, for having a suspended license, police said.
Witnesses said the 1999 Nissan that Bello was driving had been traveling northbound on Centre Street at 10:54 a.m. when it picked up speed, hit a fire hydrant and crashed into a coffee cart, whose vendor dove for safety.
“All of a sudden there was a very deep impact and I rolled over two or three times in the cart,” said the vendor, Jaweed Naseri, 26, of Douglaston, Queens.
“At one point I said my prayers. I thought it was over.”
Passer-by Max Verline was walking toward the cart when he was dragged by the car and pinned to the courthouse steps, witnesses said.
“Everyone heard a boom, so everyone thought it was a terrorist attack,” said witness Penny Saintil, of Harlem. “It was chaos. Everyone was running everywhere.”
The most seriously injured were Verline, who suffered a broken leg, Naseri, who had a broken nose, and another passer-by, Theresa Rodriguez, who suffered thigh injuries.
None of their injuries was life-threatening, officials said.
After the car came to rest, a woman who had been in the passenger seat jumped out and “started yelling right away” when she saw the extent of the injuries, Court Officer Xavier Agosto said.
“She was yelling in Spanish, ‘The people! The people!’ ” he said.
The driver appeared dazed. Saintil, a nurse’s assistant, said: “I noticed [he] had a seizure. I saw foam coming out of his mouth.”