By Joe Anuta
An out-of-control car smashed into several parked vehicles and an electronics shop along Atlantic Avenue early Saturday morning, killing the driver who had fled from an earlier fender bender in Brooklyn, police said.
Residents in an apartment building near the corner of 88th Street said they awoke to a loud crash around 3 a.m., when police said the male driver hit several parked cars and a livery cab before flipping his own vehicle, killing him and injuring a female passenger.
“The only thing that saved the car from hitting our house was the tree,” said resident Carmen Parretta.
The driver of the 2010 Toyota sent one SUV onto the side walk in front of Parretta’s home, and hit another SUV so hard that it slammed into the front of the electronics store, Stereo Upgrade.
“We can’t open the front gate,” said Keith Cutolo, a friend of the owner. “And we won’t know the extent of the damage until we can.”
Cutolo said the parked car dented in the metal pull down gate and may have compromised a structural beam in the store.
After slamming into the parked SUV, the Toyota hit a light post and flipped over, Cutolo said.
Police and firefighters arrived and pronounced the man, who has not been identified, dead at the scene.
The man had been in an earlier crash in Brooklyn at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Crescent Street, according to the NYPD, exactly one mile from the accident site. He fled the scene eastbound on Atlantic Avenue, police said.
Neighbors believe the car was being chased by another vehicle, which could not be confirmed by the NYPD.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
