Baltimore Woman, Twins Struck By Car In NYC
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A New York City cab driver is charged in a horrific crash that injured baby twins from Baltimore.
Mary Bubala reports the family was visiting relatives in Brooklyn when the accident left one of the babies fighting for his life. The other twin and his mother were seriously injured.
On Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, twisted car parts mark the spot on the sidewalk where a mother and her twin boys, just 9-months-old, were struck.
Police say the accident began with an out-of-control livery cab that hit a double-parked minivan. That van pushed a parked pickup truck onto the sidewalk, where Patricia Mechuca of Baltimore was walking with her twin babies - Daniel and Gustavo - in a stroller. They had no chance to escape.
Mechuca and the boys were visiting relatives in Brooklyn for the weekend.
"We were playing with them New Year's Eve, so that's why we were really shocked when we heard what happened," said Andrea Sosa, twins' relative.
The mother and twin boys were not the only ones injured in the crash. The cab driver and three passengers were also transported to Lutheran Medical Center.
Little Gustavo is critically injured with severe head trauma. He was transferred to Cohen Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park.
Police say the cab driver, Gregorio Patino, was driving with a suspended license.
Maggie Rosado said Patino had a double-parked car in front of him and a speeding car beside him.
"I know it's not his fault. Because he's a cab driver, he tried to save the people in his cab. As he tried to save them, the other car was speeding, and he couldn't go nowhere. There was nowhere to go," said Rosado, cab driver's relative.
Investigators charged Patino, 57, with aggravated unlicensed operation and reckless driving.
A police investigation of the incident is still ongoing.
