2 Women Hurt In Crash Caused By Wrong-Way Driver In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two elderly women were hospitalized Monday night – one critically – following a chain of crashed caused by a wrong-way driver in the Bronx.
Police told 1010 WINS the Honda was originally headed west on Pitman Avenue near De Reimer Avenue in the Wakefield section of the Bronx around 4:30 p.m. Monday The driver swerved into an eastbound lane, slammed into an oncoming car, and hit four parked cars, police said.
One of the parked cars hit two women – one of them 77, the other 81. The women were walking home from an afternoon of bingo at a nearby church.
The women were taken to Jacobi Medical Center. The older of the two women was later transferred to Montefiore Medical Center with severe head injuries and was reported in critical condition, police said.
The younger woman's condition was reported as stable.
As CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported, Shenece Heywood was standing on Pitman Avenue when the accident happened.
"My heart just sunk," Heywood said. "My heart sunk for them."
The women were clearly severely injured, Heywood said.
"She was sitting up, but she had bruises in her face -- real bad bruises in her face," Heywood said. "But the other lady, she had blood coming out of her mouth, her nose."
Steve Howell had just parked his cab and walked away, barely escaping getting caught in the chain reaction collision.
"I heard this loud boom, and that's when I came around and I saw what happened," Howell said.
Witnesses said the driver put many others in danger too.
"I just came off to take something out of my car. It could have been me," said Sellyn Brown. "Thank God I'm alive."
People at the scene said say a man in his 30s admitted falling asleep at the wheel and causing the crash.
People at the scene said a man in his 30s admitted falling asleep at the wheel and causing the crash. He was in police custody awaiting charges, police said.
There was no indication that the driver was intoxicated.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
