Two people were injured Tuesday afternoon when a hit-and-run driver ran a red light in Harlem, struck an Uber with a passenger aboard, and then crashed into a nearby building.
The Uber driver and the passenger, who were inside a 2018 Infiniti, were both treated for injuries at Harlem Hospital. They are listed in stable condition.
Cops said two young men in the car that blew the red light immediately fled the scene.
The crash occurred at about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, when a 2017 Chrysler 300 Tourino with New Jersey plates traveling eastbound on 120th Street, apparently ran the red light, according to witnesses. The car struck the front of the Infinity, which was heading southbound on First Avenue.
The Chrysler continued to the southeast corner of the street and mounted the sidewalk, narrowly missing pedestrians, before crashing into the building, shattering a window and two doors before coming to a rest.
Police said the two men in the car immediately fled into the nearby Wagner Houses, a NYCHA development.
Police searched the Chrysler and fanned out into the housing development seeking two men who fled the hit-and-run incident. Cops were also investigating whether the car was stolen.
“He ran the red light and hit that Uber, then they hit the building and it went bang and then they just jumped out and ran into the projects,” said one witness who would not be identified. “A bunch of people jumped out of the way, it was pretty close.”
Damage to the building was serious enough for police to summon the Department of Buildings for evaluation. The building belongs to Acacia Gardens, 411 East 120th Street, a mixed-use affordable housing development project currently under construction anticipated to have 178 units available for low and moderate income households. Some of the building is occupied.
The project is sponsored by the East Harlem Council for Community Improvement, Inc. (EHCCI) and developed by The Promesa Housing Development fund (PHDFC) and Acacia Network, Inc. The part of the building that was struck is meant to be a community center, one worker there said, but was still under development.
Anyone with information on this crash is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
