Motorists Crash Into Businesses in Queens and Brooklyn, Taking Life and Limb

Curb-jumping motorists have crashed into places of business in Brooklyn and Queens in two incidents since Tuesday morning, leaving one dead and several injured, including a man whose legs were reported severed.

At approximately 11:40 a.m. yesterday, a speeding driver rear-ended a vehicle on 126th Street in Willets Point, then veered off the street and crashed into an auto body shop, according to NYPD and published reports. The motorist hit one employee who was standing on the sidewalk, severing his legs below the knees. The driver then hit one or more vehicles inside the shop, and two mechanics. One man, age 33, was killed. The other man inside the shop, age 34, was reported in serious but stable condition, and the 30-year-old man who lost his legs was listed in critical condition, according to NYPD and the Times Ledger.

DNAinfo posted photos of the driver, age 52, being interviewed by police. No arrests were made yesterday, and NYPD had no further information on charges or summonses as of this morning. Police had not yet released the identity of the man who was killed. A commenter on DNAinfo who identified the victim as his father posted a photo on Facebook.

At 6:15 a.m. today in Park Slope, a motorist drove through the front of a deli at 439 Fifth Avenue. The Post reported that a store employee and the driver were injured.

“The whole front is gone. I was working at the deli. Thank God I’m okay,” said Nasr Alshd, another deli employee. “There was a lot of glass and damage to the store. The car was inside the store.”

NYPD had no information on the Park Slope crash.

The man who died yesterday was at least the fifth pedestrian killed by a curb-jumping driver in 2013, according to crash data compiled by Streetsblog. Countless more have been injured this year by motorists who left the roadway. No drivers are known to have been charged for crashing into bystanders who were killed, maimed, and injured while walking on a sidewalk, waiting for a bus, or working indoors.

The fatal Queens crash occurred in the 110th Precinct, and in the City Council district represented by Julissa Ferreras. The Park Slope crash occurred in the 78th Precinct, in the council district represented by Brad Lander.