Crazy Midtown Shed Smash Driver Seen In New Pics: NYPD

MIDTOWN, NY — A man with a lengthy rap sheet is being sought by police following last week's dramatic Cadillac getaway in Midtown, according to police and records.

On Friday, police announced they were on the lookout for Benjamin Abrams in connection to the curb-jumping, shed-smashing peel-out that sent multiple officers to the hospital.

Abrams, 56, currently on parole since August 2021 for attempted robbery and drug charges in 2015, has been sentenced to a total of 35 years in prison across five convictions, according to state prison records, nearly all for the possession and sale of drugs.

Records show Abrams is set to remain on parole until February 2023.

According to the Daily News, Abrams was first arrested in 1989 and has been arrested a total of 24 times, including charges for robbery, car theft, drug possession and prostitution.

The chase originated when the driver fled a traffic stop at Seventh Avenue and West 38th Street at around 4:50 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Video obtained by the Daily News showed how the dangerous driver, stuck in traffic on East 30th Street and Madison with police behind him, suddenly accelerated his black Cadillac sedan clear through a sidewalk shed of a local BBQ joint, driving along the sidewalk between the shed and the buildings until smashing into a street sign on the other side of the street — all steps from a large, private K-12 special education school.

Two officers injured during the chaos and was treated for a concussion at Bellevue Hospital, police said.

Officials said that Abrams is about six-foot four-inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).