W. SIDE HELL
Maniac rams 7 cars, tries to flee in firetruck
A BROOKLYN felon crashed a rental box truck into seven vehicles in Hell’s Kitchen on Sunday afternoon, seriously injuring four people — and then tried to steal a firetruck, authorities said.
Devon Brandon, 36, a convicted gun dealer who was on parole, was behind the wheel of an Enterprise truck when he caused the 1:40 p.m. smashup on Tenth Ave. at W. 43rd St., according to police. In all, nine people, including Brandon, were injured.
Two of the seven vehicles Brandon slammed into were occupied, cops said. It wasn’t immediately determined if the Bedford-Stuyvesant resident had rented the truck.
Brandon then ditched the truck and jumped into the driver’s side of an FDNY engine truck — with a firefighter still in the seat, an FDNY spokesman said.
One man hurt in the crash posted video of the wild scene on Twitter, showing the interloper hop into the cab of Engine 34. The truck’s horn blows, and several firefighters mob the door, reaching inside to pull the man out as he struggles with them. Cops said Brandon slammed one firefighter’s head and body into the firetruck’s front console.
“At Bellevue getting checked out now and the crazed @enterprise driver is handcuffed to his bed . . . and sedated,” tweeted @bruzzernyc, who posted the video.
Medics took three people to Mount Sinai West hospital and six others to Bellevue, all with nonlife-threatening injuries.
Police found cocaine and marijuana on the floor of the rental truck and in Brandon’s backpack, cop sources said. Brandon was charged with felony reckless endangerment and assault, as well as drug-impaired driving, drug possession and refusing to take a breath test, police said.