Police are searching for the driver of a car they say sped away from several traffic stops, injuring an officer and plowing through an outdoor dining shed in Midtown on Wednesday.
Authorities tried to stop the vehicle, a black Cadillac, at East 38th Street and Seventh Avenue shortly before 5 p.m., but it fled that traffic stop, police said. A short time later, officers from the 17th Precinct spotted the vehicle at East 30th Street and Madison Avenue and tried to stop the car again, the NYPD said.
As the driver fled that encounter with police, the vehicle struck an outdoor dining shed at Mason Jar restaurant on East 30th Street, causing an officer who was pursuing the car to jump out of the way and sustain an injury, authorities said.
The driver then traveled eastbound before getting into a collision at East 31 Street and Lexington Avenue, the NYPD said. At that point, the driver fled the scene on foot, police said.
The officer suffered minor injuries and has since been released from the hospital, authorities said. Video footage of the incident shows the vehicle sending debris all over the street.
The NYPD said it is reviewing surveillance footage in the area in an attempt to identify and track down the driver.