NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- An out-of-control pickup truck driver mounted a sidewalk and plowed into two pedestrians, including an NYPD officer, in Upper Manhattan on Monday evening, police said.
The wild crash unfolded shortly before 5 p.m. at West 148th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Hamilton Heights as the two victims were walking on the sidewalk.
A witness, Mike Evans, said the pickup driver was turning from West 148th to St. Nicholas, but instead of turning at the corner, she cut across the sidewalk and struck the two men.
The driver—identified as a 23-year-old woman—mowed down a fire hydrant and hurtled into the back of a parked UPS truck, according to Evans and video from the scene.
"She had to go at a certain speed when she took off to knock down the fire hydrant and then also hit the UPS truck," Evans said.
The NYPD officer suffered a minor hand injury. The other man had more serious injuries and was seen lying on the ground, but he was expected to survive. They were both taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem.
The force of the crash sent the more seriously injured man rolling into the crosswalk, where his head was nearly run over by the truck's rear tire, according to witnesses.
"He rolled," Evans said, "and it's the grace of God that vehicle stopped from the incline, that his head didn't get run over by that back tire."
According to Evans, first responders had to cut the man's pants "because his leg was so messed up."
"We don't know how bad it was. We were just glad his head didn't get run over by the tire," he said.
The pickup driver stayed at the scene. She was charged with reckless endangerment and also hit with vehicle and traffic law infractions, police said.