New York

Reversing SUV Launches Into NYC Laundromat, Injuring 6

"I felt like it was almost like a movie scene," said one witness

An SUV reversed into a Staten Island laundromat on Sunday morning, plowing through the building and pinning several people, New York City authorities said.

Three people were seriously injured and another three suffered minor injuries, according to the FDNY. Eight people were in the laundromat at the time. 

The 74-year-old driver had just left the nearby Top Tomato grocery store in Tottenville Plaza. He was reversing in the parking lot when he sped up and was launched into the Page Laundromat. 

Police say the incident appears to be an accident, and no one has been charged. 

Surveillance video shows his white SUV back up quickly in the parking lot, crash through the wall and drive backward between a row of washing machines, striking people along the way. In one video, a person outside can be seen collapsing to the ground as they try to dodge the out-of-control vehicle. 

Witnesses say one of the victims was pregnant. 

"She couldn't feel her legs, she was in a lot of pain. So when she saw me, she was like, 'My legs!'" Josephine Torlone told NBC 4 New York. 

Torlone, who has been going to the laundromat for more than a decade, ran inside to confront the driver. The driver told her he hit the gas instead of the brake.

In one surveillance video, another woman can be seen hitting the driver as he leans dazed against the driver-side door.

All of the victims were taken to Staten Island University North, firefighters said.

One of the victims, a man who didn't want to be identified, suffered an injury to his arm.

"I didn't get hit by the vehicle, but all these folding tables just came crashing, flying," he said. 

Torlone said it's the scariest Sunday she's ever spent at the laundromat. 

"I felt like it was almost like a movie scene, where somebody was trying to get revenge on somebody," she said. 

The store owner said he has more than $20,000 in damages. A sign on the front window Sunday evening read: "Sorry... Closed due to car accident!" 

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