A man wanted on drug sales charges stole a car and rammed a 44-year-old bicyclist during a hot police pursuit in Greenwich Village Wednesday afternoon, sources and witnesses said.
Sources and witnesses said the cyclist was riding in the bike lane at West 3rd Avenue and Mercer Street when he was struck by a reckless driver driving the wrong way, leading police to a close pursuit of the stolen vehicle shortly after 3 p.m. The bicycle was thrown onto the sidewalk.
Shortly before the crash, the driver slipped into someone's black Ford Fusion, which police were investigating on suspicion of selling drugs, the NYPD said.
“There was a cyclist going down the road in the right direction and the car hit him,” witness Ariadne Chanmiller, 17, told the Post.
“Apparently there was a police officer behind him, and the cyclist jumped into the air and fell down, and the car just kept going. It didn't stop, nothing happened. The policeman stopped behind him because he didn't want to get hit. I had to,” she said, adding that she heard sirens and then an “immediate impact.”
The person riding the bicycle did not move, and the bicycle was left mangled, Chan Miller recalled.
Medical workers transported the injured victim to New York City Health Hospital/Bellevue, where he was listed in stable condition with head and leg injuries, the NYPD said.
After the hit-and-run, the driver ran a red light near the intersection of Mercer Street and Bleecker Street and “scraped the side” of the Uber, Ariadne's father, Ron Miller, told the Post.
“I called 911 because it was going so fast that it broke half my windshield.”
The driver eventually stopped the sedan several blocks away on Prince Street near West Broadway, abandoned the sedan, and fled the scene, police said.
The wind was still blowing as of Wednesday night.
Local media reported that the pursuit came amid a surge in police pursuits this year, with more than one car accident a day. City Recently reported.
Additional reporting by Jack Morphet
