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Homeless man who sparked fiery lower Manhattan crash swiped car from Midtown: police
By Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News,
6 hours ago
The vehicle is pictured after hitting a lamp post on Maiden Lane, and burst into flames, on Friday, July 26, 2024. Sam Costanza/New York Daily News/TNS
A homeless man who smashed a stolen car into a light pole in lower Manhattan, sparking a blaze that nearby karaoke clubgoers rescued him from, had swiped the car from Midtown before going on a wild 5-mile spree downtown, cops said Saturday.
Criminal charges have yet to be filed against the man, who is believed to be in his 50s and was hospitalized following the fiery crash on Maiden Lane near Nassau St. in the Financial District around 7:10 p.m. on Friday, cops said.
Police said the owner of the Kia Forte with TLC plates had left the vehicle unoccupied and idling near the Chrysler Building at the corner of Lexington Ave. and E. 43rd St. about 6:30 p.m. when the man jumped inside and drove off with it.
He drove the Kia downtown, where he smashed into a Yellow 2022 RAV4 Toyota on Broadway near Maiden Lane and argued with the car’s 56-year-old driver before peeling off, according to police.
A few moments later, he slammed into the light pole, cops said.
Mable Rodriguez, 60, said she was smoking a cigarette outside a John St. karaoke joint and saw the speeding Kia slam into the pole.
Rodriguez and two men rushed to the driver’s aid and were shocked to recognize him as a homeless man who typically camped on the sidewalk outside a nearby drugstore, she said.
“I looked at him and, oh my God, this is the guy who sleeps in front of the Duane Reade,” Rodriguez said.
The trio pulled the driver from the smoking livery car just moments before it erupted into flames.
“He was lying there with his eyes closed, bleeding from the mouth,” said Rodriguez. “I went into the car and turned it off. It was already smoking, and then there were flames.”
Paramedics took the driver to Bellevue Hospital, where he was expected to survive, cops said.
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