What to Know
- The SUV driver who plowed onto an Upper East Side sidewalk and hit a woman during the evening rush Thursday has been arrested
- He's facing charges of vehicular assault and driving while impaired by drugs
- The woman remains in critical condition at the hospital
The driver of the SUV that plowed onto a Manhattan sidewalk Thursday, hitting a woman and critically injuring her, has been arrested, police say.
Huey Bui, 40, of the Bronx, is facing charges of vehicular assault and driving while impaired by drugs. He was injured in the Upper East Side crash; it's unclear if he's retained an attorney.
A Taxi & Limousine Commission spokesman initially said Bui was a licensed cabbie who was off duty at the time but later corrected to say Bui was not a cab driver -- his license expired in 2002.
The SUV driver lost control and veered onto the curb at Madison Avenue and East 64th Street, hitting a 41-year-old woman as it crashed through a luxury watch storefront during the height of the evening rush, FDNY officials said.
Cellphone video shows the woman injured and motionless at the entrance of the store.
She was listed in critical condition at Cornell Medical Center.
Bui and a woman in the back of the SUV were also injured. Their conditions weren't immediately known, but witnesses said firefighters had to cut open the driver-side door to get the driver out.
The SUV was crippled in the crash. One of its doors was missing and its hood was crunched in. An overturned mailbox, shatter glass and other debris was on the street nearby.
Local
Witness Mike Briggs says the SUV was speeding up Madison Avenue before it careened into the luxury store.
"I turned around like this and saw him go flying down the street, swerve to the right and hit multiple things," Briggs said.
Other witnesses said it looked like the driver was having a seizure during the crash. Carlos Medina was among them.
"The guy was having a seizure," Medina said. "I think he had a seizure while he was driving."
