Williamsburg Neighbors Furious After Garbage Truck Hits, Wrecks 12 Cars
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A garbage truck trashed one car after the other this week, leaving a mess on a Brooklyn street and some angry car owners asking if the truck driver be charged.
CBS2's Marc Liverman reported had exclusive video of the damage, which affected 12 cars.
Metal on metal, shattered glass, and mangled, wrecked cars were seen along Nostrand Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn Monday morning. A Crown Container Company driver came down the street in a garbage truck and crashed into all the cars.
Miguel Rios' van was one of them.
"The door was pulled off. The front fender was off. The tires all, you know, blown up," he said.
Luckily, no one was hurt. But Rios said he depended on that van to be able to get both him and his mother to their doctors' appointments.
"They called a tow truck to take it away, because it was really demolished," Rios said.
Rios said Crown Container offered him $5,300 for the totaled car. Emanuel Acosta was still waiting to learn what he will get for his brand new Nissan Maxima.
"The front bumper is screwed up, the back, everything – bad; door, everything -- bad, bad, bad," he said. "It do make me mad."
Acosta is a part-time Uber driver. He depends on the money from driving to survive, and he does not know what he is going to for money until he gets his car back.
Not seen in the video is what caused the truck to slam into all the cars. That is something police are working to figure out too.
They have not said whether that driver was drunk or if he fell asleep.
So far, there are no criminal charges, although the driver has been suspended. But Rios said that is not good enough. He wants him fired.
"Take him out. Don't let him drive no more," Acosta said. "With a guy like that, hey, it could happen again."
Crown Container Company issued a statement reading in part: "We are very sorry for the damage that was done by our truck, and are thankful no one was hurt.... The driver has been suspended until the investigation is complete."
That was little solace to the dozen car owners whose lives were changed in an instant.
One of the car owners said he normally washes his car around the time it was hit. Despite the costly damage, Acosta said he is thankful that he and the other car owners were not hurt.
