A toddler was killed and her grandmother seriously injured on an Upper West Side sidewalk when a teenager fleeing the police drove into a building, then backed up over them, authorities said.
Cops initially pulled over Franklin Reyes, 18, on 86th and Amsterdam Avenue around 8:15 a.m., law-enforcement sources said.
When police approached the car, Reyes allegedly took off — leading cops on a pursuit up to 97th Street, where he took a hard left and plowed into the window of Asian Fusion Cuisine, according to authorities and witnesses.
He then backed up over the 4-year-old girl and her 58-year-old grandmother, cops said.
“I heard the noise, I came into the street,” said Chris Prostko, a super who lives nearby. “They were lying on the sidewalk in front of the crushed window.”
Witnesses said the child was unconscious and covered in blood, and the grandmother fading in and out of consciousness.
EMS rushed the two to St. Luke’s Hospital, but the young girl could not be saved.
Reyes was taken into custody at the scene. A police source said he was was arrested in June last year for armed robbery, and released without any bail being set.
He also has busts for pot and attempted robbery last year.
The area was crowded with parents and children this morning, who were disturbed by the scene.
“I cross this street everyday,” said Sherry Shermon, who was there with her 5-year-old boy. “I hold my children’s hands because this is a dangerous intersection."
Republished with permission of The New York Post.
