Suspect Indicted for Plowing Into Ten Pedestrians While Fleeing Cops Near Grand Central
Twenty-year-old Kyle Fernandez–who had allegedly sped a stolen red Hyundai Tucson through Midtown while fleeing from cops and hit various pedestrians and a bicyclist–was hit with charges of assault, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of stolen property by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Prosecutors also noted that Fernandez was apparently driving under the influence of an unspecified drug.
| 22 Aug 2023 | 06:38
The aftermath of a chaotic cop chase that ended with ten bystander injuries on August 1. Kyle Fernandez, the 20 year-old suspect that was allegedly driving the red Hyundai pictured above, has been formally indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. (
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A young man that allegedly hit various pedestrians and a bicyclist–while fleeing from police in a stolen Hyundai–has now been formally indicted.
Twenty year-old Kyle Fernandez was reportedly on an unspecified drug during the August 1 incident, prosecutors for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said. New details that were not previously reported by this paper are also contained in the indictment.
The carnage began around 5:30 p.m., when Fernandez drove by two cops that picked up on plates logged as stolen two days earlier. They attempted to pull him over at “approximately” East 44th St. and 2nd Ave., at which point he allegedly gunned it and sped through a red light, pulling off a sharp turn and heading the wrong way down a one-way street toward Grand Central. He then struck a bicyclist, prosecutors claim.
Prosecutors allege that after continuing to zoom down Lexington in a bid to outrun cops in pursuit, he drove onto a median to avoid traffic near 42nd St. and ended up slamming into a car, injuring pedestrians. He then reportedly attempted a U-Turn and plowed through additional people. NYPD told Straus News that the spin-around stunt at the intersection resulted in five casualties alone.
According to the D.A., Fernandez’s getaway basically ended there. After crashing into what police said was an Uber and getting smacked in the face by the Hyundai’s airbags, he allegedly stumbled out of the car and tried to flee on foot. Bystanders caught up to him and held him for arresting officers.
Prosecutors claim that one victim’s ankle was broken and another pedestrian suffered a fractured pelvis. Fernandez is now charged with felonies that include Assault, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, and Reckless Endangerment.
The NYPD has recently been in internal turmoil due to pushback against high-speed pursuit of suspects.The City reported that the NYPD’s Chief of Risk Management Matthew Pontillo has apparently been pushed out for raising concerns about the sharply increasing volume of chases, which they noted increased by 600 percent year-over-year in the first three months of 2023 alone.