Police say the driver responsible for plowing into six family members standing on a Bronx curb was nearly apprehended by a group of people before an armed gunman arrived at crash site and scared the crowd.
The incident started around 3 a.m. Sunday near E 170th Street and Sheridan Avenue, one block from the Grand Concourse.
According to police, the driver and a passenger riding in a Jeep jumped in the curb and hit six people, briefly pinning two of them underneath.
All six victims were taken to a nearby hospital, including a 16-year-old boy with broken bones and 34-year-old mother who suffered critical injuries.
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The two men that were inside the Jeep at the time of the crash attempted to flee on foot, police said. A small crowd was able to briefly detain the driver while the passenger ran off.
But, police said, that passenger quickly returned with a group of people — one of whom was armed with a gun. Police said he fired a shot into the air to intimidate the crowd so the driver could run off with his associates.
Little is known about what caused the driver to veer off the road, but the police investigation is ongoing.