Reckless Drunk Hit-and-Run Driver Arrested after Midtown Crash
A drunk driver was arrested for hitting a pedicab, several cars and then a pedestrian in a wild, high-speed crash near the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Sunday night, cops said.
According to police, driver Ibrahim Dembele was in his car near the corner of W. 40th Street and Eighth Avenue at around 8 p.m. when he backed into the intersection, striking a pedicab and another vehicle. At that point, he fled north on Eighth Avenue, attracting the attention of two NYPD cops on foot patrol at W. 43rd, according to a police spokeswoman.
The cops gave chase — on foot — but caught up with the driver at W. 48th Street because he had struck two more cars and a pedestrian, and then flipped his vehicle. The crash was first reported by W42ndSt, a website, which reported that the driver had initially fled on the roadway of Eighth Avenue before jumping into the bike lane and striking the pedestrian.
Police said there were two victims — men ages 43 and 63 — but did not know more about the victims in this preliminary report. Indeed, cops did not have information about the pedestrian that witnesses mentioned in the W42ndSt account.
Dembele, 27, was taken to Bellevue Hospital for testing — and cops said he was later charged with drunk driving, leaving the scene of a crash and reckless driving.
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