Police: Wrong-Way Driver Causes Crash On The Belt Parkway
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Staten Island man driving on a suspended license has been charged for causing a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday that injured nearly a dozen people on the Belt Parkway after he was pulled over for speeding, police said.
Henry Brimsley, 30, is charged with reckless endangerment, unlicensed operation and speed violations.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Brimsley made a U-turn on the Belt Parkway after he was pulled over around 6:15 a.m. near the Bay Parkway exit.
"The individual drove past at 86 miles an hour. The officer went after him and pulled him over. He, in fact, stopped the car," Kelly said. "As the officer got out of his car to approach the stopped vehicle, the driver suddenly backed up past the police car and made a U-turn and then went in the other direction on the Belt Parkway."
WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reports
Podcast
Heading west in the eastbound lanes, Brimsley's Honda Accord then struck a van carrying seven people, police said.
The impact of the crash was so powerful, the van rolled and slammed into a Nissan sedan carrying two passengers, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported.
Witnesses described the scene as a mangled mess.
"The whole front part is a total mess," one man said. "Very, very scary."
Some of the victims were trapped inside their vehicles. In all, 10 people were injured. Five were said to be in serious condition.
"They were all beat up, bruised up," Dan Todisco, who was in the emergency room at Lutheran Medical Center when some of the victims arrived, said. "They were cut. Some of them had oxygen on them and some of them were strapped down to the gurneys. It was a scary situation."
1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports
Podcast
Brimsley suffered the worst injuries, including a broken leg, police said.
Traffic was backed up for miles as all eastbound lanes of the parkway were closed at the Bay Parkway exit so crews could move the wreckage from the road. The lanes were reopened around 7:45 a.m.
Police are still investigating, but do not believe he was drunk behind the wheel.
