Manhattan

Maryland Man Charged With Manslaughter in Fiery 6-Vehicle Manhattan Wreck That Killed Brooklyn Woman

What to Know

  • A six-car collision in Manhattan early Saturday morning left a woman dead and one SUV ablaze, police and fire officials said
  • The woman killed has been identified as 57-year-old Amy Phillipson, of Brooklyn; she was in the SUV that flipped and caught fire
  • A 37-year-old man from Maryland has been arrested on charges of manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident

Authorities have identified the victim in a fiery weekend crash involving six vehicles, one of which was engulfed in flames, in Manhattan as 57-year-old Amy Phillipson, of Brooklyn. 

Cops say Phillipson was driving the 2003 Honda CRV set ablaze by the six vehicle wreck near Laight and West streets by the Holland Tunnel Saturday morning. Video from the scene showed a trail of debris almost a block long.

Police say a 37-year-old man, later identified as Sherman Harrison of Maryland, was driving a 2012 Audi north on West Street when he hit Phillipson's SUV, which flipped over and caught fire. Harrison kept going north and hit a pickup truck, then smashed into a 2018 Hyundai sedan before striking two parked cars.

Cops say Harrison got out of his mangled Audi and tried to run but was caught a short distance away. He faces charges of manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney. 

Harrison, along with a 28-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman who were driving the truck and Hyundai, respectively, were also checked out at a hospital for various injuries but were expected to be fine. No one was in the parked cars.

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