(Updated) Police Tuesday afternoon were following up on a report of a driver fleeing an accident.
According to communications on the police radio, the driver of a gray Honda Odyssey crashed into a box truck at Whalley and Brownell shortly after 1 p.m.
An officer subsequently reported that he had pulled over the Odyssey at the Mobil Mart at Whalley and Sherman.
Another officer reported from Brownell Street: “According to a witness he sideswiped the whole truck.”
A request for more information was placed with mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. As of late Tuesday afternoon, no information was provided until 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday, at which point Mayorga reported: “The accident happened at Whalley and Brownell at 1313 hours [Tuesday]. The operator of one vehicle struck another vehicle and did not realize it. The damage to the vehicles was ‘minimal.’ There
was not a stolen vehicle involved, no in custody arrest….”
3 Robberies; 1 Arrest
Less than 20 minutes after a man was pushed off his scooter in Newhallville, another man was mugged by a group in the Dwight neighborhood, according to police.
Those two Monday muggings were followed by a laundromat robbery on Amity Road, police said.
Here’s what happened, according to Mayorga:
At 6:28 p.m. on Monday a man was riding a scooter near Shepard and Read Streets in Newhallville when a group of 5 guys approached him. The victim told police he knew one of the members of the group. The men pushed the victim off his scooter and the known man rode off on it. Police located that man and arrested him.
At 6:45 p.m., at Orchard and Elm Streets, a man was walking on the street when a group of eight males approached him and told him to empty his pockets. He handed over $80 and was kicked in the leg.
At 7:37 p.m., two masked and gloved men entered the Washing Machine laundromat at 174 Amity Rd. and assaulted the attendant. One of the bandits took $150 from the register. Both men fled out the rear door.
Also Tuesday, Mayorga released information on two incidents that happened last week. According to Mayorga:
On Thursday at 9:45 p.m., a man was talking on his cell phone near 210 Whalley Ave. when four men approached him. One took out a handgun and put it to the victim’s torso. Another went through the victim’s pockets and took his wallet. The victim was then struck in the mouth with the butt of the gun.
On Friday at 2:56 p.m., a man was riding a bike on Whalley near the Boulevard. Two other men pursued him on bikes. They caught up to him, kicked him off his bike, then kicked him in the ribs and took his bike.