Dramatic video shows chaotic scene as Mercedes mows down NYC cops, bystanders on New Year’s Day
Dozens of shrieking New Year’s revelers desperately fled through the streets of Midtown as a Mercedes car filled with drugs sped onto the sidewalk and mowed down bystanders, new hair-raising video shows.
Mohamed Alaouie, 44, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, was arrested in the early Monday morning attack that left at least eight people injured — including two police officers and “Black Panther” actress Carrie Bernans.
The dramatic footage shows the driver — identified as Alaouie — quickly reversing the sedan as witnesses scream in terror after police on foot patrol tried to approach the car.
The car then shoots forward and barrels into a halal cart before peeling down the sidewalk, around the pack of officers and back onto the street.
Several bystanders and cops can be seen leaping out of the car’s path just in the nick of time, but others weren’t so lucky.
At least one woman can be seen in the terrifying footage lying pinned beneath the smashed food cart in an apparent state of unconsciousness as others hurriedly try to yank her to safety.
The woman was at least one of six people directly struck by the car in the mayhem that unfolded about an hour after the New Year’s Eve ball drop several blocks north.
Police tried to stop Alaouie when bystanders noticed him physically assaulting his unidentified 34-year-old girlfriend inside his moving black Mercedes-Benz, sources said.
Instead, the driver — who has 10 prior arrests for raps related to drugs and criminal possession of stolen property — took off, hitting several cars and people.
That’s when he struck the halal cart and the 39-year-old woman who had been trapped beneath it. She miraculously survived with only minor injuries, officials said.
Alaouie is accused of continuing to hurtle the Mercedes up and down multiple city streets between Sixth and Ninth Avenues, where he struck a 31-year-old bystander and 29-year-old Bernans, who suffered several broken bones, fractures and chipped teeth from the violence.
The stuntwoman had been walking near the Chirp restaurant around 1:30 a.m. when the Mercedes smashed through the makeshift outdoor seating area.
Alaouie also struck a parked unoccupied pick-up truck and a Toyota Camry, which in turn was pushed into a Ford van, as well as several marked police cars.
The two officers he hit were hospitalized in stable condition with minor injuries.
Alaouie and his girlfriend were also hospitalized after the violent rampage.
Investigators found “a large quantity” of crack cocaine inside the Mercedes after he was taken into custody.
He has since been charged with attempted murder of a police officer, assault, reckless endangerment, drug possession, driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired.
