Cops Crash Into Teen Driver In Brooklyn En Route To Call

EAST NEW YORK, NY — An NYPD vehicle driving to assist other officers crashed into another car in East New York Thursday, sending a 19-year-old and child to the hospital, police said.

The officers had their lights and sirens activated driving eastbound on Pitkin Avenue about 7:40 p.m. Thursday when they collided with a 19-year-old driver going southbound on Euclid Avenue, police said.

The teen was sent to an area hospital with neck and hip pain along with her child passenger for evaluation, police said.

It was not immediately clear which vehicle had the right of way.

The crash comes just a week after an NYPD tow truck fatally struck a 7-year-old pedestrian in Fort Greene, raising local concerns about NYPD driving.

"As New Yorkers, we are all too familiar with the NYPD's lack of discipline and care in the field, including frequent reckless driving incidents," City Council Member Hudson said in a tweet about the Fort Greene crash. "This is the worst possible outcome, and, yet, we are forced to reckon with it all too often."

A report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander found that the city had spent $653.9 million over the last decade settling cases over city-owned vehicle crashes.

And NYPD drivers were some of the worst offenders; 67 percent of crash settlements from 2012 and 2021 worth over $1 million between involved police and Department of Sanitation vehicles, according to the report.

This is a developing story. Please refresh this page for updates.