A crowd demonstrated superhuman strength in saving a man trapped in his overturned car this weekend, only for everyone to make a shocking discovery after the heroic rescue.
A minivan was speeding through a Brooklyn neighborhood Saturday before it crashed head-on into two parked vehicles and overturned.
Surveillance footage from a home at Howard and Blake avenues in Brownsville showed the minivan first crashing into a black Jeep and a maroon pickup truck, causing it to roll over once on its driver’s side.
The driver, later identified by police as 61-year-old Olubunmi Awoluyi, was trapped inside and at serious risk of being crushed, according to witnesses.
Residents slowly came out of their homes to see what had happened. It was impossible to ignore, and one eyewitness recounted: ABC 7 The bang “sounded like a bomb had gone off. It was very, very loud.”
In the split second before the minivan slams into the parked Jeep, it becomes clear that the hood is already dented.
He then crashes into the left rear of the Jeep, causing it to roll over.
The minivan also crashes into the brown truck before coming to rest on its side.
Eudes James, the owner of the Jeep and truck that were hit, led a group of good Samaritans to help overturn the minivan.
About a dozen men managed to upright the wrecked vehicle and save the driver.
“(The driver) was bleeding from the mouth. There was blood on the road. It was a little scary to see someone trapped and crushed,” James said. CBS.
Eventually, police and firefighters arrived at the scene and made a discovery that highlighted the shocking events.
Two bottles of alcohol were discovered at the scene. There was a bottle of Hennessey on the sidewalk and another bottle still inside the minivan Awoluyi was driving.
“When the firefighter opened the door to the place, that’s when the liquor bottle fell out,” said witness Shanique Fox.
Police later explained that before Awoluyi crashed, he had been driving drunk on Rockaway Parkway, a long, straight road that runs through Brownsville and Canarsie.
According to police, while driving on that road, he collided with two other vehicles. He then allegedly made a U-turn and hit a 26-year-old woman and a 3-year-old girl.
The woman is the girl’s mother and was pushing her in a stroller when they were both hit.
A mix of residents and bystanders helped to overturn the crashed minivan.
About a dozen men took part in the Herculean effort, which was successful.
Police said the girl had minor injuries, while the woman was unconscious and unresponsive. Both were taken to a local hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.
Danny Square, the delivery driver, was present at both scenes. He was the first to see Awoluyi allegedly run over the two pedestrians, which convinced him that he had to follow the driver.
“I don’t know where he was going, he tried to hit someone and run away, so I had to chase him,” Square said. NBC 4 New York.
The same home surveillance camera that recorded the final crash site also captured Square approaching on his bicycle. Square was part of the makeshift team of rescuers who flipped the minivan onto its wheels.
Square said there were three open bottles of Hennessy inside the minivan.
Awoluyi was charged with drunk driving, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, police said.
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