Cab Driver Who Hit 6 Was Having Medical Episode: NYPD

UPDATE Dec 27, 2024 7:29 AM CST

A taxi driver whose car hit six pedestrians when he jumped a curb across the street from Macy's flagship store in Manhattan on Christmas Day was having a medical episode at the time, the NYPD confirmed Thursday. A police spokesperson would not elaborate on the type of medical episode the driver experienced but said no criminality is suspected at this stage, the AP reports. The 58-year-old was taken to a hospital in stable condition for further evaluation. Two Australians—a 9-year-old boy with a laceration to his right thigh and his 41-year-old mother—were hospitalized, Sky News Australia reports. A 47-year-old woman with a leg injury was also hospitalized. All were in stable condition, police said. Three other pedestrians, women aged 19, 37, and 49, declined medical treatment.

Dec 26, 2024 9:45 AM CST

A taxicab hit six pedestrians in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, police said, with three people—including a 9-year-old boy—transported to hospitals for their injuries. A New York Police Department spokesperson said the taxi driver may have suffered a medical episode but that the investigation had yet to confirm that. Two people, including the 9-year-old boy, were taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, and one person was taken to Bellevue Hospital, the spokesperson said. The other three people who were hit by the taxi refused medical attention, reports the AP. All were in stable condition.

The taxi jumped the curb near the Macy's flagship store at Herald Square around 4pm and hit the pedestrians on the sidewalk, police said, adding that the 58-year-old driver remained at the scene. "The driver never hit the brakes," tourist Ryan Tucker tells PIX11. The boy and his 41-year-old mother were pinned beneath the car. "As we got up there, everything was still spinning. The little boy's leg was underneath the tire, just spinning and smoking. So, a couple of gentlemen got the car off… we kind of lifted it back, where we were able to pull the boy out." Video footage at the scene showed a damaged yellow taxi on the sidewalk cordoned off by police tape. The car's front bumper appeared to have fallen off. The taxi was towed away later in the evening.

(More taxi driver stories.)