Motorist Waits for Police for Over 3 Hours After Crash

On Friday morning, in the middle one of Crown Heights’ most busy thoroughfares, a totaled minivan sat for over three hours. The reason: Police never showed up after the accident, and the driver, a Jewish woman in her ninth month of pregnancy, was forced to sit in the summer heat and wait for them.

The accident occurred at around 9:00am in front of Empire Kosher on Empire Boulevard, near the intersection of Lamont Court. The driver was merging into traffic after pulling out of the Empire Kosher parking lot, when a white livery cab pulled out of a parking spot and the two vehicles collided.

Then the waiting game began.

Police and Hatzalah were called immediately after the crash. Hatzalah arrived within minutes and transported the driver to her OB/GYN.

After she and her unborn child were checked out and – Boruch Hashem – received a clean bill of health, she returned to the scene of the accident, where the police had still not shown up.

Since it is illegal to remove a vehicle or driver (except in the case of a medical emergency) from the scene of an accident until police arrive to make a report, the woman was forced to sit there in the summer heat and wait for them.

A kind neighbor saw the woman’s plight and brought out a chair for her to sit on under the shade of a tree.

While they were waiting, two police cars passed by and were flagged down, but neither agreed to take the necessary accident report. While one did have a ‘passenger’ in the backseat, the second set of officers who passed by had an empty vehicle, and did not seem to be in a rush to get anywhere important.

Only after three and a half hours, at around 12:30pm, did police finally show up at the scene and file the report, allowing the weary woman to go home and rest.

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11 Comments

  • Lazy cops

    More and more stories of our wonderful NYPD!! and is the CHCC or big shots going to do anything to make CH conditions better? noway!! why should they.

  • Should have called Shomrim

    They would have got the cops there. Did the cab driver wait? Something doesn’t make sense here.

  • Mishpacha

    I personally called 911 right after the crash. I also notified a police women getting in to a car in front of 71st prescient (about 9:10,) and all she said was OK.

  • y did it take over an hour for a police???

    The same happens last week at empire and Albany where a hatzolah member all this time

    And I posted this as well last week

    I noticed it and mentioned it…

    Thanks for a wonderful police dept and great mayor

    No more reason for anyone to see anything

  • CH Resident

    I would have called the Mayor and the MEDIA long before the police turned up, might have gotten some response.

  • Witness

    There were two accidents within yards of each other and the police did not wait three hours to come over.