NEW YORK — Six people, including three children, were taken to the hospital after a car sped onto a sidewalk and crashed into a trunk-or-treat event in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
The crash happened around 4 p.m. near the corner of Knickerbocker Avenue and Bleecker Street during the NYPD 83rd Precinct’s Trunk-Or-Treat event.
Witnesses said a black sedan accelerated onto the sidewalk, striking pedestrians and a parked ambulance.
“Hit two cars and hit three people,” eyewitness Caira Lewis said.
Authorities said three children and three women were hospitalized after being injured in the chain-reaction crash.
A 31-year-old woman and her two daughters, ages 6 and 11, were taken to Bellevue Hospital.
A 53-year-old woman was taken to Elmhurst Hospital.
A 74-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy are hospitalized at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
“The impact was rough…we thought it was a shooting. That’s how bad it was. Everyone started running because we thought it was a shooting,” one witness said.
Families had gathered for the precinct’s Halloween-themed event, which had been promoted on social media.
“And it ended up being a traumatizing time,” another witness said.
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Lewis said she narrowly avoided being hit.
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“One second, literally. I was an inch. As soon as I got out the cab and stepped on the sidewalk, it came and rammed us. So when it hit the truck, it hit us like it pushed us. But I shifted my baby,” Lewis said.
The vehicle’s bumper remained at the scene, tangled in candy wrappers after plowing through the gathering. Because the crash occurred outside a police station, witnesses said officers quickly located the driver.
“He was about to drive off. I’m like, no, he’s right there. Make sure y’all pick him up. And then they ran and they arrested him,” one witness said.
Law enforcement sources said there is no indication the 56-year-old driver intended to target police officers or pedestrians.
The driver, Michael Marsh, was allegedly intoxicated and was well over the legal limit for alcohol.
He was charged late Thursday with vehicular assault, reckless endangerment and driving while impaired and intoxicated.
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