Last night, March 19, 2026, police were called to a high foot-traffic area near the Apollo Theater in Harlem, after receiving reports of a man driving a red Hyundai Tucson who lost control of his vehicle and crashed multiple times.
The event occurred around 8:05 pm, and police were quick to arrive on the scene. They saw debris scattered across the roads in the area of 125th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. According to witnesses, the driver struck 2 cyclists, both delivery workers, head-on before crashing into a parked NYPD cruiser. The driver, in what could have been an attempt to flee the scene, ended up crashing into multiple other vehicles before hitting an 18-wheeler and coming to a stop.
According to one eyewitness in a statement to the New York Post, “It was like an explosion, the gray car was waiting over here, then the pieces. They flew off, hit my car too, and then ran into the truck over there… and then the guy just kept hitting on the gas. Like he was trying to escape.” Multiple witnesses agreed that it appeared the driver was attempting to flee the scene.
Another nearby vendor said, “It seems like the person lost control of the car… He was coming from Eighth Avenue, going this way, and he hit the two delivery guys and just went across.”
Police and news footage of the scene showed extensive damage to the vehicles. The two cyclists, aged 28 and 33, who were hit, were taken immediately to nearby hospitals with critical injuries. Unfortunately, the 28-year-old was soon pronounced dead at Mount Sinai. The other remains in critical condition. 3 people who were inside other vehicles involved in the crash were also taken to the hospital. This included a 40-year-old man who was inside a Rav4 and 2 men, 23 and 28, riding in a Lexus. They are all expected to make a full recovery.
The driver responsible was not injured, according to police, and has been taken into custody. The event is still under investigation, and police are looking into whether or not the driver was impaired in any way. The driver has not yet been publicly identified, and charges are pending.
