Two men were killed — including a father of triplets — and three were critically injured after a 61-year-old drunk driver plowed his Mercedes-Benz into a crowd of pedestrians on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Friday.
The driver was heading north on Amsterdam Ave. in his black GLC 300 SUV when he lost control near W. 109th St. around 6 p.m., according to police.
The Mercedes slammed into a silver Volkswagen Jetta, careened into a bronze Chevy Astro and then mounted the sidewalk, witnesses said.
“He hit the car and went up on the sidewalk. He pinned one guy under the car. He was completely disfigured,” said David Lawrence, 65, who was nearby celebrating his son’s graduation from Columbia University when the crash occurred. “Half his body was visible from underneath the car. It was a horror show. There was nothing anyone could do.”
“The other guy was face-up on the sidewalk, getting CPR. He wasn’t responding, not at all,” he said. “The driver of the van was outside, leaning against the car with nothing but a scraped knee. It was hard to watch.”
Medics rushed five injured male pedestrians to Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in critical condition, where two of them, ages 35 and 46, died, police said.
The driver remained at the the scene and was taken into custody after police determined he was intoxicated, cops said. Charges remained pending Friday night.
One of the slain pedestrians was identified by his wife as Jason Negron, who was 35.
“Jason was my husband,” Negron’s wife told the Daily News at St. Luke’s. “He’s gone.”
Negron worked as a doorman. He leaves behind a daughter.
“He was a great guy and a great dad,” said a relative, who did not give his name.
A man who spoke to the Daily News at St. Luke’s said he was the other slain pedestrian’s best friend. That victim’s name is being withheld pending family notification.
“He was a hard-working man and a loving guy,” Zubosqui Garcia, 37, said of the victim. “To have his life taken this way is senseless.”
Garcia said his late friend was the father of triplets and had been looking forward to enjoying their upcoming birthdays with them.
“Their birthday is on June 7,” he said. “He was going to celebrate with his children.”
That victim was a worker at another Mt. Sinai Health System location, but he aspired to join the NYPD and become a cop.
“He just got a new apartment downtown. He was achieving all his goals,” Garcia said. “He will be missed. He was loved by so many.”
A nearby resident watched from her window overlooking the scene as the horror unfolded.
“There were two men lying on the ground. Another man was giving one of them CPR. Someone was screaming, ‘We need an ambulance! Where are the ambulances?’” Jaime Cunningham, 49, told the Daily News.
“It was awful,” she added. “The black car, the Mercedes, was going fast.”
A woman dining at a nearby restaurant said the driver slammed into a cyclist before mounting the sidewalk.
“It was a loud impact,” said Marilyn Williams. “My husband ran over and he came back pretty upset. He said there was one person trapped beneath the black car and there was a young cyclist who was riding in the bike lane who was hit and thrown onto the sidewalk.”
“Some local people were trying to give him CPR, but it didn’t seem to be working.”
