Joyriding teen dies when stolen SUV rolls over in Harlem
A 13-year-old boy died in Manhattan on Saturday when the stolen SUV in which he was riding rolled onto him, police and witnesses said.
The car’s brakes screeched as it nearly hit a pedestrian while it it sped around the corner from W. 116th St. to Morningside Ave. in Harlem around 6:05 p.m., said witness Edward Nichols, who was sitting in a van parked nearby.
“He was going too fast through that turn, and he lost control,” said Nichols, 67. “He hit about two cars, and then he slammed into the mirrors on the driver side of my van.”
While the SUV — a Nissan Pathfinder — was still moving, the passenger side door opened, Nichols said.
“The guy in the passenger seat was trying to pull it shut, but the car was still moving, so he couldn’t get a hold of it,” he recounted. “They were wobbling all around.”
The car rolled onto its side.
“It flipped on top of him. It crushed him,” Nichols said. “The car was on his chest and his legs were sticking out under it.”
Officers in a marked NYPD car on an unrelated assignment nearby spotted the speeding SUV as it rounded the corner from W. 116th St. They turned on their flashing lights, and arrived quickly at the crash site, police said.
The passenger was declared dead at the scene.
The driver, identified by police as a 15-year-old, was taken to nearby St. Luke’s Hospital in critical condition.
A woman brought to the scene by police after the crash cried out: “No! Tell me that’s not my son! Oh my God, tell me if that’s my baby!”
“What am I going to do without him? I’m dying,” the mother (inset) said. “I need them to pick him up from the ground because he’s been here for hours! This is my only son — what am I going to do?”
The teens were believed to have stolen the SUV from another location further north in Manhattan, police said. The incident was still under investigation on Saturday night.
In another deadly crash Saturday, a 32-year-old woman died in Queens on Saturday when a motorcycle hit her as she crossed Myrtle Ave. near Summerfield St. in Ridgewood at around 6:30 p.m. The 28-year-old operator of the motorcycle stayed at the scene, and the incident was still under investigation late Saturday.