Driver fleeing police strikes 8 people near Times Square on New Year's Day, police say

A driver fleeing from police early in the morning on New Year's Day struck and injured eight people near Times Square.

The New York City Police Department said in a statement to USA TODAY that officers responded to an assault around 1:30 a.m. on Monday in Midtown Manhattan, less than a mile away from Times Square where thousands had just celebrated the New Year's Eve ball drop.

Police said a 44-year-old man was having a physical altercation with a 34-year-old woman inside a black Mercedes-Benz sedan on 33rd Street and 6th Avenue.

Two police officers on foot approached the car and asked the man to put the car in park, but the man fled and turned onto oncoming traffic. He then turned on to West 34th Street into 7th Avenue where "he mounted the sidewalk and began traveling westbound," striking a food cart, and four women.

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The driver then reentered the road passing 8th Avenue and mounted the curb onto the sidewalk again, striking two on-duty NYPD officers, two unoccupied parked cars, and a 2022 Toyota Camry in the roadway.

Police then arrested the driver. The people who were struck and the woman who was inside the car were all taken to NYC Health & Hospitals/Bellevue in stable condition. The two police officers were also taken to a local hospital in stable condition.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.