CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) — Bystanders had to dodge danger on Tuesday night after a car jumped a curb, and hit parked cars and a light pole in Manhattan.
The wild sequence of events happened on West 30th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues in Chelsea just before 5 p.m.
A Jeep jumped a curb, knocked over a moped and side-swiped a BMW before being stopped by a light pole.
“We heard a big bang,” said a witness named Richard. “Outside this car was being chased by some undercover police. About four or five guys took off that way, and they chased them down.”
The neighborhood got quite the show as a bunch of officers were seen running after one of the guys they were looking for.
“All the loud noise and people screaming like, you could tell they were afraid for their life versus like normal screaming,” one woman said. “And then we looked out the window and you could see a bunch of people running and then from down there, there were like nine cops that came and they had the guy arrested.”
Officers brought one of the apparent suspects, who tried to flee, back in handcuffs. A number of unmarked vehicles were waiting for him with flashing lights.
Video showed a second man was also cuffed and put in the back of a vehicle.
The BMW that was side-swiped belongs to Arnold Yee. He was at the movies.
“This is just crazy. Like I’m just walking back, and I didn’t even see it at first and then I got in the car and my friend said, ‘what is this?’ And then you know, I thought it was a hit and run, and then I see the car on the curb, which is insane. Like I can’t even process that,” Yee said.
The officers, some wearing a vest labeled only “police,” searched the vehicle once the situation was no longer chaotic.
“This was crazy. The funniest thing is it happened like minutes after I got inside,” said a witness named Maria.
“I don’t know. I’m a New Yorker. Nothing really phases me anymore,” Richard said.
What is still unclear is what law enforcement agency the officers were with, why they were looking to apprehend the suspects in the first place and what happened prior to the wild ending.
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