NEW YORK – Police say a woman driving without a license hit and ran over three people outside of an elementary school in New York City. The victims are reported to be two girls and a man.
Two children, 7 and 14, and a man were hurt in the Queens accident, and the NYPD said they arrested Salmata Bah, the alleged driver.
Bah, 35, lost control of her Nissan Versa and hit three people on the sidewalk. The incident happened on Thursday at the corner of 35th Avenue and 37th Street in Astoria.
Police say the car went around in a circle and then stopped with a flat tire around 5:30 p.m.
According to detectives, the younger girl was taken to the hospital right away with a broken leg and a head injury. The older girl and the 58-year-old guy also had leg injuries. The girls have the same last name, but the 56-year-old is not connected to them, according to the police.
The victims are still in the hospital.
“There’s three schools within four blocks of here. It’s very chaotic at dismissal time,” Xavier Rojas said. “We know at least one of the children, the youngest one. I don’t know about the older one.”
“Really scary to here there’s young kids,” another person said.
“I saw someone being taken into the police car in cuffs. I saw two people being put onto stretchers right in front of here. It was a lot to take in, a lot of lights, a lot of noise happening, a lot of people confused and scared,” a witness reported.
The driver was arrested at the scene and later charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving and driving without a license. She has never had a valid New York driver’s license, according to the NYPD.
Bah is being held at the 114th Precinct. It is being looked into by the Highway Collision Investigation Squad how she lost control.
Police did not say right away if drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident.
