FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 27, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Meat truck driver crashes into parkway overpass
BY TODD MAISEL
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Don’t ask the cops “where’s the beef?”
aft er a truck driver made a big “mis-steak.”
An 18-wheel tractor-trailer loaded with
Canadian beef struck a westbound overpass
Queens man busted for ruinous school bus joyride through Brooklyn
BY BEN BRACHFELD
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Prosecutors indicted a Queens man
Monday on charges of stealing a school
bus last month and taking it for a ruinous
joyride across Kings County, causing
injuries to numerous people and heavyduty
property damage.
Anthony Reyes, 43, of Jamaica, Queens,
stole a school bus, which had its engine
running and keys in the ignition, from
a driveway on East 51st Street in East
Flatbush on the aft ernoon of Dec. 2,
2021, alleges Brooklyn District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez. Cops received a 911 call
reporting the bus missing, and by following
a GPS tracker caught up to Reyes
soon aft er on Jackie Robinson Parkway
in Cypress Hills, more than three miles
away, where he had parked the bus.
Reyes then began to drive away as cops
approached the vehicle, even as one offi -
cer was holding onto the departing yellow
bus. Police chased Reyes as the scoff -
law made a mad dash through East New
York, crashing into the side of a homeless
shelter but continuing his joyride in
earnest.
Th e fuzz soon caught up with Reyes,
surrounding the pilfered bus as it billowed
smoke, as seen in video posted
online. As he attempted to escape his
fate, Reyes smashed the bus into several
parked cars, some of which were occupied,
before driving off with cops on his
tail. Reyes’ trail of mayhem left three people
with minor injuries, a DA spokesperson
said, and caused thousands of dollars
in property damage.
Cops fi nally managed to apprehend
Reyes at Jamaica and Sheffi eld avenues in
East New York, near a McDonald’s.
“Th is defendant caused mayhem across
several neighborhoods when he allegedly
stole a school bus and crashed numerous
times before being stopped by police,”
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in a
statement. “Luckily, he did not cause
more serious injuries or death. We will
now seek to hold him accountable for his
reckless actions.”
Reyes, who was out on parole for a robbery
conviction at the time of the joyride,
has been hit with a 43-count indictment
running the gamut of attempted
assault, grand larceny, reckless endangerment
and criminal mischief, among
other charges.
He is being held on $500,000 bond or
$250,000 cash bail aft er being arraigned
Friday, and is due back in court on
March 11.
of the Jackie Robinson Parkway in
Queens Friday morning, forcing police to
close the roadway until the vehicle could
be unloaded and cleared from the highway,
police said.
No injuries were reported at the 10:45
a.m. crash at the Park Lane overpass next
to Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens, but all
westbound lanes were closed. Police were
forced to back cars off the highway.
Th e truck, owned by Fratehaul of
Calgary, Canada, was hauling several
tons of Canadian beef to retailers when
it struck the 11 foot, eight inch overpass,
shearing off the top of the truck and scattering
pieces all over the highway. A piece
of the truck also struck an east-bound
SUV driven by a woman, but she was
apparently uninjured in the crash.
Highway police arriving on the scene
found the truck in the right lane, but the
roof and debris covering both lanes of the
narrow highway. Vehicles quickly backed
up all the way to the Van Wyck Expressway
and caused severe delays around the area.
Police say the driver, who has not been
identifi ed, will receive a summons for
driving his truck onto the parkway that
prohibits commercial vehicles, and especially
trucks. Th e truck itself was seriously
damaged and hydraulic fl uid dumped
onto the roadway. Hazardous materials
fi refi ghters were on scene to contain the
spill.
Crews expected it to take several hours
to remove the vehicle from the parkway.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
A man driving a stolen school bus crashed into seven parked cars and a homeless shelter in East
New York on Dec. 2, 2021.
Photo by Todd Maisel
A 18-wheel tractor-trailer loaded with Canadian beef struck the overpass on the Jackie Robinson Parkway at Union Turnpike and Park Lane.
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
