The incident took place in a Brooklyn neighborhood on Saturday when a minivan, driven by Olubunmi Awoluyi, 61, was speeding and collided head-on with two parked vehicles before flipping over.
Surveillance footage from a residence on Howard and Blake avenues in Brownsville captured the minivan crashing into a black Jeep and a maroon pickup truck, causing it to flip onto its driver’s side.
Awoluyi was trapped inside the vehicle, facing a serious risk of being crushed, as reported by witnesses. The crash was so loud that one observer described it as sounding “like a bomb exploded,” according to ABC 7.
Eudes James, the owner of the vehicles struck by the minivan, rallied a group of about a dozen men who managed to overturn the wrecked vehicle and free the driver. James recounted the scene to CBS, noting, “[The driver] was bleeding out of his mouth. There was blood on the road. It was kind of scary watching somebody being pinned and being crushed.”
When police and firefighters arrived, they discovered two bottles of alcohol at the scene. One bottle of Hennessy was found on the pavement, while another was located inside the minivan. Witness Shanique Fox reported, “When the firefighter opened the door on the scene, that’s when the liquor bottle fell out.”
Investigations revealed that Awoluyi had been driving drunk on Rockaway Parkway before the crash. He allegedly hit two vehicles and then made a U-turn, striking a 26-year-old woman and her 3-year-old daughter, who were both taken to a local hospital. The child suffered minor injuries, while the mother was found unconscious but is expected to recover.
Danny Square, a delivery driver who witnessed the earlier incident involving the pedestrians, followed Awoluyi after the initial collision. Square told NBC 4 New York, “I don’t know where he was going, he tried to hit someone and flee so I had to chase him.” Surveillance footage from the same camera also showed Square arriving on his bike and joining the group of rescuers who helped flip the minivan.
Square claimed there were three open Hennessy bottles inside the minivan. Awoluyi faces charges of DWI, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident, according to police.
