Car Plows Into Trick-or-Treaters in New York, 3 Dead Including 10-Year-Old Girl

Three people are dead and three others injured after a car plowed into a group of trick-or-treaters in the Bronx Saturday evening, police said.

Police responded to the scene just before 5 p.m. at the intersection of Morris Park and Bogart avenues.

Among the deceased was a 65-year-old man identified as Louis Perez, his 10-year-old granddaughter Nyanna Aquil and 24-year-old Kristian Leka. The New York Post reports all three were members of two extended families.

Police found Perez unresponsive and unconscious at the scene with severe head trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A retired Army veteran honored with a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam, Perez was able to save the life of another granddaughter by pushing the 8-year-old out of harm’s way, the New York Daily News reports.

Aquil and Leka were transported to Jacobi Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Three other victims, a 3-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman were transported to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the car, a 52-year-old man, was also transported to the hospital where he is listed as being in stable condition. Police said the male was traveling westbound on Morris Park Avenue when he bumped the rear of a Toyota Camry with his Dodge, crossed the double yellow lines and continued to travel west on Morris Park Avenue, mounting the sidewalk and striking six pedestrians.

Witnesses described the scene saying they couldn’t believe this was happening on Halloween.

Kristina DeJesus told the New York Post, “I dropped my bags and ran over. Everybody stopped trick-or-treating, saying, ‘How can we help?’”

A 14-year-old witness told the paper he was traumatized after seeing two or three adults and two kids lying on the ground.

The NYPD said the investigation into the collision is ongoing. Witnesses told the Daily News the Dodge repeatedly bumped the Camry, as though it were intentional however police have ruled out road rage as the cause.