YONKERS, New York, U.S. (AP) – A car fleeing police struck another in a suburb of New York City, splitting it in half and killing five people, authorities said.
The event occurred in Yonkers, north of the city, at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Mayor Mike Spano and Police Chief John Mueller.
The driver of the speeding vehicle, 36, died, in addition to the four men in the other vehicle, all 18 years old.
The WNBC-TV station reported that, according to friends, the four were young people, fresh from high school.
Spano called the event “nothing less than a tragedy … Four lives have been cut off by the irresponsibility of one individual.”
“Let this serve as a lesson to all those who drive at speed: this is not only a risk for you but also for innocent people who share the road with you,” he said in a statement.
Spano and Mueller said that before the crash, police officers tried to stop the fast car, a 2009 Infiniti, because it was weaving down the road. The vehicle seemed to slow down, but suddenly took off.
As the cops were chasing him, the car struck the other car that had the 18-year-olds, a 2006 Nissan. This “caused catastrophic damage to both vehicles,” said Spano and Mueller.
The incident occurred around 9:30 pm on Riverdale Avenue near Culver Street, in the Ludlow Park neighborhood. Scraps of metal were scattered over three blocks.
Police closed Riverdale Avenue access for more than eight hours.
Police identified the driver of the Infiniti as Devon Haywood of Mount Vernon and the four young men in the Nissan as Brandon Sierra, Randy Brisbane, Tamari Watkins and Anthony Cruz, all residents of Yonkers.
WNBC reported that security cameras at a gas station captured the moment when one of the vehicles ran at full speed and collided with the other, where the four men were.
María Delgado, a neighbor in the area, told WABC-TV that she heard a noise and saw a man running and shouting “My God! OMG!”
Delgado added that he ran to the place, where he saw the bodies lying on the asphalt and one of the vehicles split in half.
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