‘I thought it was another terror attack’: Queens man drives into crowd of Halloween pranksters

Just hours after a suspected terrorist killed eight people and injured many more after driving into a crowd in Manhattan, witnesses of an incident in the neighboring New York City borough of Queens thought they were watching a similar attack play out Tuesday night.

According to the New York Daily News, at around 8:20 p.m., a Dodge minivan drove into a group of teenagers who were targeting the Long Island City neighborhood with Halloween pranks.

One victim, 17-year-old Christopher Miraba, reportedly sustained serious injuries from the collision after he and his friends had been spotted throwing eggs.

He is reportedly being treated for a broken leg and pelvis, bruised lungs and a fractured skull.

Police say 50-year-old Keith Richard was the driver who allegedly ran onto the curb and into the crowd of teens. Richard was reportedly hit by one of the eggs thrown by someone in the group.

One witness of the crash supported the police allegations.

“There was this group of teenagers,” said an Astoria man who requested to be identified only as Frank.

“This guy jumped the curb and tried to run them all over,” he said. “I thought it was another terror attack.”

Most of the teens managed to run to safety, Frank said, but Miraba was not so fortunate.

“This guy made a U-turn and ran him over,” he said. “Then he backed up and ran him over again. The kid was in real bad shape.”

The witness said he saw the victim “bleeding from his head” with his leg “twisted up real bad.”

Miraba was transported to an area hospital where he was listed in stable condition, WABC reported.

Police say Richard fled the scene but was arrested a short time later.

As of the latest reports available, he faced arraignment for charges including attempted murder, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene, vehicular assault and reckless driving.

[Featured image: Pixabay]