Man Killed After Stealing Truck, Crashing It Into East Side Eatery
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The driver of a stolen delivery truck was killed yesterday after police said he crashed into an Upper East Side building following a high-speed car chase.
Police said the man was ejected from the truck after he crashed into the Baraonda Restaurant and Lounge on Second Avenue at about 3 a.m.
Minutes earlier, police said, he and an accomplice stole the truck from the intersection of East 74th Street and Lexington Avenue, where a 44-year-old delivery man was distributing dairy products nearby. After pulling the driver from the truck, police said one suspect fled in the stolen vehicle and another drove off in a dark sedan.
The man behind the wheel of the truck subsequently sideswiped a yellow cab at the intersection of East 74th Street and Madison Avenue, police said. With the taxi driver on his tail, he careened down Second Avenue and lost control of the truck while attempting to turn right on East 75th Street. Police said he rammed the truck into the restaurant, which is on the corner of East 75th Street and Second Avenue, and was thrown from the car. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The man driving the dark sedan fled, police said. Neither suspect was immediately identified pending a police investigation.
The owner of the restaurant, who was inside the building when the collision occurred, described the scene: glass windows shattered, a brick wall crumbled, and a steam pipe exploded as restaurant staff hustled some 20 late-night diners out the back door. “We just heard a big bang and we saw the wall collapse,” the owner, Enrico Proietti, said. “Everybody was in shock. We couldn’t believe what happened.” No one was injured.
Recalling the incident hours later inside his ruined restaurant, Mr. Proietti said he saw the truck driver’s body on the ground and called 911. The taxi driver who chased the truck also stayed at the scene, telling reporters yesterday morning that he followed the truck “to get the license plate.”
Last night, police did not say why they believe the suspects stole the truck, which was being operated by International Delight, a coffee creamer company. A company employee who declined to be named pending the police investigation said the delivery man “seems fine, probably a little mentally shaken.”
Police said the man who crashed the truck had been arrested several times in the past few months on charges of criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, and assault. Most recently, he was taken into police custody earlier this month for contempt of court.
As engineers and insurance appraisers flowed in and out of the restaurant yesterday, a longtime manager worked the phones, calling some 200 individuals who had reservations this week. “They’re shocked, they’re upset,” the manager, Sia Bayiokos, said, of the clients she had reached so far. Ms. Bayiokos said the restaurant, which hosts popular parties on Wednesday and Sunday nights, would be closed for at least a week. She was trying to get many diners reservations at the restaurant’s sister eatery, Bella blu, located several blocks away.”We’ll have to cancel some Christmas parties,” she said. “What can we do?”