The driver of a gray Infiniti SUV has been taken into custody following an collision with an MTA bus in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx on Monday evening, June 17, police said.

 

Police said that at around 4.55 p.m., officers had attempted to conduct a car stop of a gray Infiniti SUV at East 204th Street and Valentine Avenue in Bedford Park. “As officers exited their patrol vehicle, the operator of the gray infinity SUV, at a high rate of speed, attempted to pass two vehicles that were stopped at the light,” a police spokesperson said.

“The vehicle went through a steady red light and through the intersection, collided with an MTA bus at the intersection of East 204th Street and Grand Concourse,” the spokesperson added. “EMS responded. Passengers on the MTA bus were treated by EMS for minor injuries, and the operator of the gray SUV was taken into custody.”

 

Meanwhile, the FDNY said the department was called to East 204th Street and Grand Concourse at 4.55 p.m. on Monday for a report of a motor vehicle accident involving an MTA bus. They said both FDNY and EMS reported to the scene and that two patients were transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx. The condition or description of the patients was unknown they said.

Before Norwood News received the official police report of the incident from the NYPD, speaking in Spanish, a local fruit seller working at the intersection in question had told us that witnesses had corroborated to him the same version of events as police later outlined, though the fruit vendor, himself, had not witnessed the incident unfold as he said he had been busy working.

 

He also said that witnesses had said that the bus, a BX2, bound for Kingsbridge, was pretty full at the time of the accident and that most passengers disembarked once the collision happened. He said that when EMS arrived, they boarded the bus and treated some passengers on scene. We asked if the driver had been seen injured and he was unable to confirm. The front windscreen of the Bx2 bus was seen shattered at the scene.

Also at the scene of the accident, a police car appeared to have been impacted by the collision and was seen located in front of the gray SUV. The fruit seller said that witnesses said the police car was not involved in the crash but once the collision occurred, the driver of the gray SUV had attempted to escape from the scene of the collision, at which point the police car pulled up and blocked the gray SUV to prohibit it from moving forward.

The fruit seller said witnesses said the driver of the gray SUV made attempts to move back and forth in attempts to escape the location but was unsuccessful as police penned the SUV in. They said officers exited the vehicle and took the driver into custody. This account of what happened was later corroborated by police.

 

Later, when EMS confirmed that two passengers had been brought to hospital, we asked the NYPD if the driver of the car had been injured or hospitalized before being taken into custody and they confirmed that the driver declined medical attention at the scene before he was arrested.

Some other residents told Norwood News they heard a loud boom at the time the accident took place. Norwood News later overheard a young boy ask a police officer at the scene if “the man” died and the police officer responded, saying, “No, nobody died.” The young boy then asked if the man had gotten away. The police officer did not answer.

 

To view a short video of the scene, click here.

 

Anyone with information regarding 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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on X @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.

 

*Miriam Quiñones contributed to this story.