Killer sports car crash
Lamborghini pursued by cops wrecks, killing passenger, 21
The driver of a Lamborghini that crashed and burst into flames on an upper Manhattan street was being pursued by police just before the collision that killed a passenger in the front seat, cops and witnesses said Tuesday.
Tiana Rodriguez, a 21-yearold Bronx woman, was pronounced dead at the scene of the fiery crash that occurred when a green Lamborghini SUV slammed into an elevated subway pillar while trying to maneuver past another vehicle, according to police.
Cops said the 22-year-old driver was zipping uptown on 10th Ave. under the elevated subway tracks when he tried to get around a Hyundai Elantra, the driver of which was turning left onto W. 213th St. at around 10:15 p.m. Monday.
But the attempt failed, with the driver crashing into the Elantra, spinning completely around then slamming into the subway pillar.
“It was so quick that I don’t know what happened,” said the Hyundai driver, who didn’t want to give his name. “It was too fast. I don’t know if he hit me in the back, hit me in the door. It was too fast. I was, like, normal driving, and then boom.”
The 37-year-old man was briefly hospitalized with minor injuries.
“I’m in pain,” he said. “A little bit right now, yes. My head, my neck, my leg.”
He said the car he was driving was a rental.
“I only have like four days, five days with the car,” he said. “Everything happened so quick, and that truck burned so quick.”
He said he was saddened by Rodriguez’s death.
“It’s sad to be honest,” he said. “I’m sad. It could be my sister. That mistake that kid did, it’s f—ed up, to be honest. I have a sister, I got daughters.”
Surveillance video shows a portion of the pursuit, but it doesn’t appear that the police car was going very fast.
Jandy Fernandez, 32, who works on Sherman Ave. witnessed part of the pursuit.
“The cop chased them,” Fernandez said. The Lamborghini was over here, and the cop was turning the corner. They were like three seconds apart. They were going fast. It was like a block span between them.”
He said the police car had its lights on, and there were no cars between the police car and the Lamborghini.
“They were probably like 50 [mph]. The cops like 30, 40.”
Fernandez said he dashed to the scene after the crash.
“The car was already on fire,” he remarked.
Another witness said she saw a person’s leg sticking out of the Lamborghini but walked away because it was such a disturbing sight. When she walked back, the car was up in flames.
The 22-year-old driver was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical condition. He has not been charged, but police are still investigating.
A department spokesman said police acted within guidelines and that the driver will likely be charged with vehicular manslaughter.
Cops said the driver ran a red light about eight blocks away. Officers pulled him over, but as they were about to step out of the car, he floored it and took off, officials said.
After the crash the officers pulled the driver out, but could not get to the passenger. Officials said GPS showed the police car traveling at about 40 mph.
Jordan Armstrong, 32, an actor who lives near the crash site, compared the sound of the collision to an explosion.
“It was basically half the car,” he said. “Once I looked outside the window there was a police car that pulled up almost immediately almost as if they were waiting. We saw one man get pulled out of the car. We only saw one man get pulled out. They got him away from the flames.
“And we saw the police trying to get into the Lamborghini, but the flames started, and they were trying to get back in there. But the flames started and they dispersed. The flames were very powerful, very bright, very loud. It was slow. It was gradual.”
Armstrong said cars speed through that stretch of Inwood pretty often.
“It’s sad,” he said. “It’s hard to witness in person, something like that. I’ve never in my life seen that, so it kind of stays with you a little bit.”
Caroline Kibby, 25, said she was on her couch when she heard the crash.
“I was worried that someone had crashed into the building,” the law student said. “What I saw was that the left side of the green car was, like, obliterated. It was completely crushed. And then on the gray car, the driver-side door was off.”
She said she saw cops try to make a rescue.
“There was something in the green car, and I saw a police officer try and go and pull it out, but it was too hot,” she said. “They tried to pull out something? It could’ve been a person.”
Family and friends gathered at Rodriguez’s home trying to get a grip on the tragedy.
“She was a beautiful 21-yearold woman full of life,“said a relative who declined to give her name. “She lit up every room she walked into. She was loved by her friends, father and mother. She will be missed.”