NEW YORK – The driver accused of running over a group of protesters at a Manhattan intersection on Friday afternoon was arrested and charged with reckless recklessness, police told our sister network NBC 4.
According to the report, the accident occurred around 4:03 pm Friday, at the east corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue in Murray Hill. There were between 40 and 50 protesters in the area at the time, police said, and six people were hit, a law enforcement source told our sister network NBC New York. None of the injuries were considered life threatening.
A protester marching with the event, which began in Times Square, said the protest was held in solidarity with a hunger strike at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey.
According to two police sources, the protesters allegedly surrounded the driver’s car while beating her. The driver apparently panicked and apparently drove forward to escape, hitting protesters in the process, police said.
A NYPD spokesman said officers stood alongside protesters on the street, making sure no cars turned on East 39th Street. However, the car the woman was driving was parked in the middle of the closed block, which ultimately led to the confrontation.
In a surveillance video provided by Premium Barbershop, the black sedan is seen accelerating and impacting several people who were walking down the street and sending several of them through the air.
“I heard people screaming, I looked behind me and the woman was pushing her way. I run out and see bodies flying. I dodged a bicycle that came flying into my face,” a protester told News 4.
The driver and the passenger remained at the scene and were being questioned by the police. Police eventually detained the 52-year-old driver who faces recklessness charges.
On Twitter, the NYPD urged people to avoid the area “due to a vehicle collision involving multiple pedestrians.”
