A yellow cab was carjacked in Chelsea Monday morning by a man who punched the driver and took off with the vehicle, eventually crashing in New Jersey after a police chase, police said.
The suspect, a 40-year-old man, attacked the driver near west 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue at about 7:20 a.m.
According to police, he approached the taxi, which had a female passenger, and said he needed a ride to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The rider fled the cab while the suspect pulled the driver out and punched him several times.
He was driving erratically when another driver, Sean-Patrick Hillman, spotted him and called out asking if he was OK.
"He looks at me, pale-faced, and just says 'there's a radiation bomb in Manhattan,' raises his window and literally slams on the accelerator," Hillman told NBC 4 New York.
Hillman then chased the cab for 20 blocks through rush hour traffic. The suspect then sped off to New Jersey, and authorities tracked him through the taxi's GPS.
Police caught up with him in Leonia, and he crashed after driving up onto a sidewalk in the business district, sending pedestrians, including children heading to school, scattering.
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He jumped out of the car and was tackled by police, authorities said.
No one was struck. Two police officers in New Jersey sustained minor injuries. Police said they do not believe he had any explosives.
The driver is facing multiple charges.
