4 Injured When Car Slams Into Brooklyn Coffee Shop; Authorities Say Car Was Struck In Hit-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Four people were injured when a car slammed into a coffee shop Thursday morning in Brooklyn.
It happened at 8:38 a.m. on Nostrand Avenue near Lafayette in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
Authorities said the silver sedan crashed into the shop after being sideswiped by a black sedan, which drove off.
"It was like a bomb that just blow out from nowhere," said Mohamed Nagi, who was working at the deli on the corner of Clifton Place when he saw the car fly into the coffee shop across the street. "What I seen was a car turning the wheel and go straight into a coffee shop. There was people in there drinking their coffee in the morning before going to their job. It's just something crazy."
"Maybe five or ten minutes later, when I looked out again, there was a man coming out on a stretcher. Maybe from inside, I don't know. And then another guy was on the ground," witness Carly Kvietok said.
"It sounds like it started out as one vehicle striking another and that one careening across the street," said FDNY Chief Kevin Sullivan.
Saleh Mufeed, who was working at a deli across the street, ran over to help the victims and found a woman inside the shop covered in blood. She suffered the most severe injuries, with a broken leg and head pain.
"I heard them yelling, 'yo, yo, somebody help me!' She was yelling and crying," he said. "I went over there. I saw her leg… a lot of blood on the floor."
Police said a 40-year male customer was also hurt, along with someone on the sidewalk.
The driver of the silver sedan was injured, as well.
"It's sad. You see the blood... can't believe it," said Mufeed.
The crash dislodged the shop's entry door and shattered the storefront window. It also caused the side brick wall to collapse.
The Department of Buildings inspected the damage and said the business owner will be able to repair the shop and return.
Police said the driver of the black sedan, Mark Acevedo, a 23-year-old NYPD cadet, was charged with leaving the scene of the accident and an illegal signal.