Video: Hit-And-Run Driver Slams Into Forest Hills Complex Wall

FOREST HILLS, NY — What initially sounded like garbage pick-up turned out to be a large SUV jumping the curb and crashing into a row of cars outside one Forest Hills woman's home, according to police and video obtained by Patch.

Daniella Cociura heard the massive din outside her apartment building on 65th Avenue and 108th Street about 5:20 a.m. Monday, she told Patch.

"I went to look, then I saw the car there," Cociura said. "I saw a man outside look at the accident and start to quickly walk away.”

Surveillance video — which Cociura obtained from her building manager — captured the moment the Chevy Suburban jumped the curb (and a pile of garbage), jostled a row of a cars and slammed into the building's exterior wall.

“I don’t feel good about this,” Cociura said. “Somebody could have been walking on the street at the moment and he could have hit and killed them. Thank God, he didn’t.”

The driver stumbles out of the car to assess the damage and walks out of the shot, video shows.

Cociura said, and the NYPD confirmed, the Chevy driver didn't stick around for long.

“It looks like the motorist of that first vehicle left the scene before police arrived," a police spokesperson told Patch.

Cociura’s husband, Mike, who took photos of the incident, and a neighbor in a unit above them went outside to try and catch up to the driver, but had no luck, according to the Forest Hills resident.

But Cociura said she got a look at the driver and wants to see him face consequences for what might have been a fatal situation.

“He was a short, heavyset Hispanic gentleman wearing a short sleeve shirt,” said Cociura, who spotted the man from outside her living room window. “My window is right above where the accident happened.

There were three parked cars that were damaged, Cociura added and police confirmed.

The third and fourth vehicles were damaged by a chain reaction from the impact, said the spokeswoman.

“No injuries were reported,” said the spokeswoman. “The only property damage was to those vehicles.”

Cociura said that some bricks were smashed where there was a plant enclosure.

Cociura isn’t sure why the motorist crashed, but feels sorry for the owners of the other vehicles that were damaged.

“He had a responsibility to stay there and wait for the police to come,” Cociura said. “I hope is found and held responsible for his actions. Someone has to help those people whose cars got damaged.”