3 dead and 8 injured after truck collides with group celebrating July 4th in a Manhattan park

KAREN MATTHEWS and JOHN MINCHILLO, Associated Press

31 mins ago

A mother and her son were among three people killed when a pickup truck ploughed into a New York City park where they were celebrating the Fourth of July. Relatives mourned their deaths on Friday.

Eight other people were injured and authorities said the driver was drunk.

Just before 9 p.m. Thursday, a Ford F-150 was traveling down a street “at a high rate of speed.” The truck passed through an intersection and a stop sign, then drove onto the sidewalk and into Corlears Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said during a news conference.

The three dead were identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, her son Hernan Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43.

The driver, 44-year-old Daniel Hyden, was charged with aggravated vehicular manslaughter, eight counts of assault resulting in reckless causing serious injury with a weapon, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without a license, police said.

Hyden is awaiting arraignment on Friday and does not yet have an attorney available to speak on his behalf, a Manhattan district attorney’s office spokesman said. Hyden’s phone number is not listed in public records.

Family members said Lucille and Hernan Pinkney were well-liked members of their community.

A tearful Diamond Pinkney, a brother and son of the victims, said his brother had a “very competitive character” that came out on the basketball court or while playing video games, but the two were best friends.

“Even at work, we’re always joking around and playing pranks on each other. We always find a way to have fun in life and get the neighborhood partying,” Diamond said.

Haneefah Hasan, a niece of Lucille Pinkney and cousin of Hernan, said her cousin was outgoing and had a great sense of humor.

“Everyone knows he and his mother are very close,” Hasan said. “They’re always together. … And you know, this is just a tragic thing that just happened and we’re all still trying to process it.”

Assistant Fire Chief Michael Meyers said the first crew to arrive on the scene found the pickup truck on top of four of the victims. Firefighters worked to quickly free them before emergency personnel began treatment, Meyers said.

According to police, the injured who were taken to hospitals include an 11-year-old boy, an 18-year-old woman and several people in their thirties.

The accident occurred about half an hour before the Macy’s fireworks and other fireworks displays in New York began.

“A tragic incident occurred here,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “A driver drove into a crowd of people who were just celebrating, as so many New Yorkers and Americans are doing right now.”

The crash came days after four people, including an NYPD officer, were killed when a driver rammed his SUV into a nail salon in Deer Park, Long Island. The driver in the crash was charged with drunken driving and pleaded not guilty.