Two Car Crashes Last Night Leave Neighbors’ Cars, Apartment Building In Shambles

Several concerned neighbors contacted us this morning about a particularly scary car crash shortly before midnight last night on E 17th Street between Cortelyou and Dorchester Roads.

“A SUV hit several parked cars on the street, totalling at least two of them. A lot of neighbors went running out when they heard the commotion,” said neighbor Kacy, who added that the cars damaged by the crash and the SUV were all still on the street as of 7:20am.

“I heard the driver tried to leave the scene and some of the people were able to hold him till the Fire Department and Police Department arrived,” said neighbor Sally (who sent in the top photo as well as the one directly below).

“He was arrested,” she says of the driver, who was allegedly intoxicated.

Sally says to her knowledge that no one was hurt, although she heard a woman and a few children had a close call. We have reached out to the 70th Precinct about the incident, and are awaiting confirmation.

When we stopped by shortly after 9am, the SUV was no longer at the scene, and it seemed as if the car in Sally’s photographs had been moved as well. However, cars still on the street showed serious damage.

About two hours later and five blocks up, neighbor Tasha (who sent in the photos below) says a vehicle actually plowed right into the lobby of her Caton Avenue building.

“Last night around 1:30 am, someone crashed their car into the building and drove away,” she says. “This damaged the entire front of the building, police and first responders were quickly on the scene. The person was driving an older model red van.

“I live on the 4th floor so I only saw it happen from above, but the guy backed his car out, got something from under it, and then fled.”

The DOB has visited to ensure the building’s structural stability, and tenants were not asked to vacate–but as if there was ever a good time to run a car into a building, today’s weather isn’t helping Tasha and her neighbors any.

“The hole is letting in cold and water, the vestibule area and front door are completely destroyed, and there is no way to secure the secondary door,” she says.

We are glad to hear from the neighbors who contacted us that no one was hurt, but as with the incident on E 17th Street, we have yet to hear back from the 70th Precinct about the crash on Caton and whether the driver was caught.

In the meantime, between reckless drivers and inclement weather, please be as careful as you possibly can getting around. If you see dangerous driving or a crash in progress, call 911–and if you’d like to let neighbors know about an incident you saw, email us at editor@ditmasparkcorner.com.