Video shows fatal chain-reaction crash in East Harlem. Witnesses describe the harrowing scene.
NEW YORK -- A man was killed when he was struck by a vehicle as he was walking on the side of the road in East Harlem on Monday afternoon.
Heart-stopping surveillance video shows a white Mercedes-Benz barreling through an intersection before smashing into a grocery cart full of bottles, and narrowly missing a woman. The Mercedes then rear-ends a parked SUV, which lurches forward and fatally pins a 51-year-old Nadjari Reid between two vehicles.
Detectives provided more details, saying the driver, 51-year-old Angel Melendez, was changing lanes at a high rate of speed when he lost control, mounted a concrete island, and caused the chain-reaction crash. They added his Mercedes hit a motorcycle, then an SUV, which in turn struck the pedestrian and a box truck. The box truck then hit an Infinity.
Police said all of the vehicles were unoccupied except for the Infinity, whose 50-year-old driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Police said Melendez had a 14-year-old passenger in his car. The teenager is okay, but Melendez was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. He has since been arrested and is facing charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
Witnesses described what they heard and saw
Gloria Robinson said she heard the jolting sound just before 4 p.m. and ran out to the corner of East 105th Street and First Avenue.
"I was sitting in my living room and all of a sudden I heard a big bang. It was so hard," Gloria Robinson said. "All I see is people trying to get out, get him out, and they laid him down on the ground."
As word got around, many living in the area, including Pat Wilson, the victim's cousin, realized she knew the victim.
"I ran over there and I said, 'Oh my God, that's family,'" Wilson said.
"I've been living here for many years, 50 years, and I said, 'I hope it's not someone that I know. Please, God," Robinson said. "I just cried for him and I can't believe it's true."
Reid was a fixture in the community
The crash left shock and sadness over the tight-knit neighborhood.
A candlelight vigil is now set up at the scene. Neighbors said Reid lived in an apartment, only yards away.
"He was a good guy, a respectful guy. He loved to cook," Wilson said.
"Everyone loved him. He helped everyone in the neighborhood," good friend Chris Morales added.
Morales said he grew up with Reid.
"It's a big loss for the community," Morales said. "Look at the candles he has here. That says it all."
