Several people were injured early Monday morning in Midtown Manhattan when a black sedan crashed into the sidewalk, striking police cars and a food truck, according to the New York City Police Department.
A woman who was trapped under the food truck and several other people were taken to local hospitals, a spokesman for the police said, adding that the woman was in stable condition and that the others had received non-life-threatening injuries.
Three police officers were also injured in the crash, with two refusing medical attention and one being treated for minor injuries, although the exact number of people who were injured was unclear.
The driver of the car, a 44-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after what the police said was “reckless driving.”
Police officers had approached the sedan near West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue in an attempt to intervene in a “dispute in the car,” the spokesman said. The driver then tried to flee, driving away before hitting the police cars and the food truck at high speed near West 34th Street at around 1:30 a.m.
Charges were pending as of early Monday against the driver.
The police presence had been heavier than usual for New Year’s Eve in Manhattan, with huge crowds attending the celebrations, but the area where the accident occurred was not close to the annual ball drop and had not been cordoned off, the police said.