MIDTOWN — Five pedestrians were hurt when a driver bashed into two other vehicles before crashing through a glass display window at Forever 21 on 34th Street Wednesday night, police said.
The five people were walking near the affordable boutique clothing outlet at 50 W. 34th St., near Madison Avenue, about 10 p.m. when a 34-year-old woman, driving a Ford Mustang and fleeing the scene of two other crashes, hopped the curb and careened into them, an NYPD spokesman said.
The driver, whose name was not immediately released, was initially heading east on West 34th Street when she rear-ended a Subaru SUV between Fifth and Sixth avenues, the spokesman said.
She then tried to escape by backing into the westbound lane and then driving against traffic until she hit a Chevy Impala head on before getting back into the right lane and driving on to Forever 21, police said.
Five pedestrians along with the Mustang's driver and her male passenger were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, NYPD officials said. None of their names were immediately released.
An 18-year-old girl suffered serious injuries to her legs but her condition was upgraded to stable, police said. Her 21-year-old sister's face was also cut in the crash, police said.
A 24-year-old man suffered leg injuries while both a 55-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman suffered neck and back pains, police said.
The two other drivers who were hit did not require medical attention, NYPD officials said.
The Mustang driver, whose name was not immediately released, was arrested at the scene, an NYPD spokesman said. Formal charges against her were expected later Thursday morning.
The Department of Buildings investigated the crash scene but determined that there was no serious structural damage to the building, a police spokesman said.