UPDATED: 11:50 a.m.
Police say around 2 p.m., a 2001 Honda and a 2013 Ford were speeding down the street. The Honda tried to go around the Ford. They hit each other. The Honda then veered onto the shoulder and smashed into five parked cars.
When neighbors heard a loud bang and screams on Haverford Avenue near Rhoads Street in Overbrook Park, they rushed out of their homes and businesses to help.
The crash happened right in front of a strip of businesses, including a day care center. While the kids were napping, owner Melissa Clarke said she heard a loud screech and looked outside.
Three other adults in parked cars were also hurt. Police say all were taken to the hospital and are expected to be all right.
However, 35-year-old Chad Grey, who was driving the Honda, was killed in the crash.
“The guy was just reaching his hand up and he was like, ‘Somebody help me please, help me, help me!' ” said Clarke.
Witnesses later learned Grey from Bala Cynwyd was killed on his birthday.
Vickie, another witness, said he couldn’t be saved.
“He was just pleading, ‘Please help me, please help me, please help me!’ And it was just devastating,” she recalled.
The woman who was driving the Ford took off on foot, and witnesses said she had a baby in her arms. The woman who fled is not the mother of the two children who were hurt. Their exact relationship, and as to why they were in the car together, is still unknown.
Police have not released any information on this person.
Clarke said it looked like the woman panicked.
“Once she realized it was really bad, she just ran,” she said, “took off running.”
Residents say it can be very dangerous on this stretch of Haverford Avenue, where, far too often, cars fly down the road.
“They try to beat that light all the time,” said Clarke.