Car Hits Building In Spring Valley; Driver Declared Homicide Victim
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A car crash turned into a homicide in Rockland County.
Police say all was not what it seemed when a driver was found dead after crashing into a building in Spring Valley Tuesday night.
Police say it wasn't the crash that killed him.
"I woke up this morning and my brother told me someone died," one resident whose car was hit in the crash told Carlin.
The first thought for some people is the driver died on impact when the car struck the metal railing of the steps up to #5 at Prospect Gardens near Prospect Street and Ewing Avenue at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
But then Wednesday morning police announced while he was found dead at a crash, he was killed before, adding homicide to this case.
We've learned there is a perpetrator who police say they know, but investigators won't tell us yet if they have him in custody, or know anything about the weapon and motive, reported CBS2's Dave Carlin.
"Like a gunshot or something," one tenant said. That sound, however, was the impact of the BMW hitting the steps. The BMW was towed out, revealing damage to the front end.
As the car with the mortally wounded driver careened across snow-covered grass, it left deep tire tracks. On the way to the townhouse wall, one resident's parked car was clipped.
"You can see the swipes on the bumper," a resident said.
The people who live in the townhouse are fortunate the structure is up high and the car went into the stairway and not the living space.
Damage to the townhouse is minimal, and detectives say no one in the family knew the driver. When Carlin went to the door to check in with them, no one answered.
Now that police say it's homicide, residents told Carlen they feel unnerved and are curious.
"This is the first time something happened like this," a resident said.
They want to know was the actual killing inside a moving car, or maybe out on busy Prospect Street or Ewing Avenue, and did the killer jump out before it ended up hitting the home.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Spring Valley police at 1 (845) 356-7400.
