Police: Man Slams Into Parked Cars, Attacks Traffic Cop On Upper East Side
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Cars were damaged, a pedestrian was hurt, and a traffic officer was assaulted – in an incident all caused by one man who police said went wild behind the wheel on the Upper East Side Thursday.
As CBS2's Brian Webb reported, cellphone video showed the suspect laid out on the street with police officers all around. Witness Boris Mashkabov saw the car buzz by on Second Avenue and knew there was trouble ahead.
"It was really, really bad," Mashbakov said. "It's a good thing there was no kids."
Police said the man started driving erratically on 72nd Street. By the time he got to 62nd Street, he had been weaving in and out of traffic up on the sidewalk and had slammed into several parked cars, police said.
The driver took the bumper off one gray car, and also wrecked a taxicab.
"He was driving recklessly and, he was like he was drugged or drunk – something like that," the cab driver said. "He was driving like crazy."
Witnesses said one block over, things got even worse. The man jumped out of his car and began beating a traffic officer until bystanders pull him off. The female officer went to the hospital.
"When I came on the scene, he was basically fighting with officers," one man said. "It took about six of them to get him down."
The suspect's crumpled car was towed away, while he was carted off in an ambulance.
The extent of the traffic officer's injuries was not immediately clear, but CBS2 was told she was expected to recover. A pedestrian also suffered minor injuries.