Horrific accident in New York caught on video: Pedestrian killed by chain reaction at high speed

A wild video shows a horrific chain-reaction crash apparently caused by a Mercedes driver ignoring a red light that left a pedestrian dead – and a woman pushing a shopping cart inches away from a similar fate in Harlem on Monday.

Angel Melendez, 51, who was traveling with a 14-year-old boy in the passenger seat, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter after a collision at the corner of First Avenue and East 105th Street at 3:40 p.m. Monday that left another 51-year-old man dead, authorities said.

Melendez was speeding north on First Avenue “at what appeared to be a high rate of speed” when he suddenly changed from the left lane to the right lane and ran a red light, police said.

As he crossed the East 105th Street intersection, his white 2007 Mercedes drove onto the concrete island and smashed a laundry cart, narrowly missing the woman pushing it, according to police and the shocking video.

He then rammed a parked, unoccupied Suzuki motorcycle, police said.

Melendez continued driving and first struck a parked 2009 Chevy Tahoe, which in turn struck the 51-year-old victim, who, according to police and the video, was attempting to drive between that SUV and a 2017 Ford U.S. Postal Service box truck.

The Tahoe was also pushed into the van, as was a parked 2007 Infiniti G350, police said.

There were no people in the Chevy or the van, but a 50-year-old man was behind the wheel of the Infiniti, police said.

The pedestrian, who suffered severe leg trauma, was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.

His official identification by the police was not immediate.

But local resident Gloria Robinson told WNBC that she fondly remembers how her fatally injured neighbor always brightened her mood.

“I was very sick. I had cancer. I was so sick,” Robinson said. “He always made me laugh. I just screamed, I just cried. I just cried for him and I can’t believe it’s true.”

The Infiniti driver was taken to Harlem Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

The teenager who was sitting in the Mercedes next to the speeder was not injured during the chaotic incident, police said.

Melendez remained at the scene of the accident and was taken to Metropolitan Hospital, where his condition was listed as stable.

He is also accused of child-harming behavior – in connection with his juvenile passenger – and second-degree reckless endangerment, police said.