At least five people are injured after a male driver, 44, being pursued by police, rams into New Year’s Eve revelers near New York’s Madison Square Garden just as the crowd was leaving Times Square after seeing the ball drop
- According to reports, NYPD officers chased the car prior to the crash. The driver is now in custody
At least five people were reportedly injured after a car plowed into New Year’s Eve partygoers near Madison Square Garden in New York City.
A mass casualty incident has been declared following the horror crash at West 34th Street and 9th Avenue. Three NYPD officers were among the injured.
Police were called to the scene around 1:40 a.m. local time as crowds near Times Square were said to have left after watching the ball drop to ring in 2024.
The vehicle drove onto the sidewalk and struck civilians and officers before coming to a stop, reports suggest.
The driver, a 44-year-old man, is now in custody at Bellevue Hospital. It is reported that police chased the car before the accident.
Photos from the scene appear to show three cars involved in the wreck, two black cars and a yellow taxi. While a video showed a man being carried away and appearing to be conscious.
Photos from the scene show at least three cars colliding outside a downtown parking lot
One car reportedly crashed onto the sidewalk, resulting in an accident
At 4 a.m., police were still cordoning off the area where the accident occurred
The horrific crash occurred just a few blocks from where a million people watched the famous ball drop
The incident began when police intervened in a confrontation, one of those involved in the dispute, then tried to run away from the scene, reports the New York Post.
The Post reports that a woman was pinned against a food truck and that the driver of that truck was also among the injured.
A small army of NYPD officers were on patrol in the Big Apple on New Year’s Eve as part of a heightened security effort.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no specific threats” to his city’s annual celebration.
Nevertheless, police said they had expanded the security perimeter around the party and created a “buffer zone” so they could head off potential demonstrations.
On New Year’s Eve 2022, a man with a machete attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for more information about the crash.