Father, Teenage Son Recovering After Suspect Steals, Crashes Delivery Van In Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A father and son are recovering after a suspect stole their delivery van, with the teenage boy inside, and crashed it into nearby scaffolding in Manhattan.
It happened around 5:30 a.m. Saturday.
Video shows a pile of scaffolding collapsed on top of a delivery van that careened into a building at 45th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Police say it was stolen by a 30-year-old who witnesses say appeared to be emotionally disturbed.
"Running around into all these stores talking about people were trying to kill him. He ran into somebody's van. He stole the van, and he reversed it ... Thank god it was late, or early, however you look at it, that there was nobody out here," one witness said.
In the process, police say the suspect seriously hurt a father and son who were working.
A 38-year-old father was delivering bread to restaurants in Manhattan, and his 15-year-old son was accompanying him as they made their rounds.
The delivery driver had left the van idling on West 44th Street. That's when we're told the suspect jumped in, punched the son in the head and drove off with him still in the vehicle.
The father tried to stop the suspect, grabbing onto the door handle, but the NYPD says the vehicle backed up, breaking the man's left leg and hand.
He now has to undergo surgery, according to his boss, Micheal Dellapolla at Gian Piero Bakery.
"My driver, I feel sorry for him because he's been with me a long time, and now he's hurt in the hospital," Dellapolla told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge.
The man has worked for Gian Piero bakery in Queens for more than two decades. His boss says it's common to practice to keep vehicles idling while working.
"We have keys for restaurants. A bag of bread, you open the door, drop it in and go, so usually block by block, so they never shut off the trucks. It never happened, and we're doing this for 30 years. It never happened," Dellapolla said.
Officers happened to be on the street just as the suspect crashed the van. They say he tried to run, but police apprehended him. Charges are still pending.
Dellapolla says the father and son have been released from the hospital, though it will be weeks before they full recover.
He also says at least 30 restaurants didn't get their bread deliveries because of the incident, but more importantly, he hopes the father and son fully recover quickly because this is their livelihood.
