3 dead and 8 injured after truck strikes group celebrating July 4 in Manhattan park
Three people were killed and eight others were injured when a pickup truck drove into a group celebrating the Fourth of July holiday in New York City, authorities said.
A Ford F-150 came down a street “at a high rate of speed” shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. The truck went through an intersection and past a stop sign, drove onto the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said during a news conference.
Two of the victims were identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Hernan Pinkney, 38. The third was not immediately identified.
The driver, Daniel Hyden, 44, was arrested on charges including driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed driving, police said.
Hyden was awaiting arraignment Friday and did not yet have an attorney who could speak for him, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney's office said. No phone number for Hyden was listed in public records.
Family members said Lucille and Hernan Pinkney were beloved members of their community.
A tearful Diamond Pinkney, a brother and son of the victims, said Friday that his brother had “a very competitive nature” that came out on the basketball court or playing video games but that at the same time the two were best friends.
“Even at work we always fool around, pranking each other. We always find a way to make fun in life and bring the party to the neighborhood,” Diamond said.
Haneefah Hasan, a niece of Lucille Pinkney and cousin of Hernan, said her cousin was outgoing and had a great sense of humor.
“Everybody knows him and his mother are really close,” Hasan said. “They’re always together. ... And, you know, this is just a tragic thing that just happened, and we’re all still trying to process it.”
Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Meyers said said the first crew to arrive at the crash scene found the pickup truck on top of four of the victims. Firefighters worked to quickly extricate them before emergency medical personnel began treatment, Meyers said.
Police said those injured in the crash and taken to area hospitals included an 11-year-old boy, an 18-year-old woman and several people in their 30s.
The crash happened about a half hour before the start of the Macy's fireworks show and other fireworks displays around New York.
“We had a tragic incident that took place here,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. “A driver drove into a crowd of people who were actually just celebrating like so many New Yorkers and Americans are doing right now.”
The crash happened days after four people, including an NYPD officer, were killed when a driver crashed his SUV into a nail salon in Deer Park on Long Island. The driver in that crash was charged with driving while intoxicated and has pleaded not guilty.
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