Cleanup underway after fleeing driver hit NYPD officer outside Midtown wine bar

NYPD searching for driver who injured officer in Midtown

The hunt continues for the driver who struck an NYPD officer who was trying to pull him over in the middle of Manhattan on Wednesday.

MANHATTAN - Crews on Thursday continued the cleanup process outside where a driver struck an NYPD officer on Wednesday.

The incident happened right outside the wine bar restaurant, Wine:30, on East 30th and Park in Midtown. The bar’s $20,000 outdoor dining shed is a total loss, but its owner said he's feeling thankful.

"Nobody was hurt," Volkan Muti, the owner said, "we should be thankful."

Muti said a party of eight asked to sit outside moments before the incident happened, but he was short-staffed, so he had them sit inside instead.

It all happened around 5 p.m. when a driver fleeing police came barreling down the block, smashing the shed so hard debris and metal went flying everywhere.

"Timing was everything," said Brendan Gardener, the owner of Mason Jar, a restaurant next door. "No one was around, thank God."

The chaos started when police attempted to pull over the driver of a black Cadillac at 7th Avenue and West 39th, they had no idea he’d floor the gas pedal, taking off toward Madison and East 30th.

"It was kind of crazy," says an onlooker. "You’re just walking through the park. And you hear all the sirens coming out of nowhere, and then you go into the street and everything is closed off and people running."

NYPD officer injured by vehicle in Midtown

Police are searching for the suspect who struck and injured an NYPD officer with a car in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday.

More officers attempted to apprehend the driver, trying to escape police—when the driver reversed the vehicle hitting an officer.

"First thing I said was, ‘Oh my God, this is really happening,’" Muti said. "Like I never thought anything like that [would happen] especially in this part of town.

The driver skirted down the busy block of scared onlookers, jumping the curb and slamming into the dining shed. The driver jetted off again, narrowly missing numerous people, including an elderly woman, crossing the intersection with a walker, before abandoning the car on Lexington and running away on foot.

Apart from hitting the police officer, no one else was injured or killed.

"It’s amazing," Gardener said.

"You’re thankful for it because there’s a lot of people getting hurt nowadays," the onlooker said, "especially with whatever’s going on. You know the one time that nobody gets hurt you’re kind of glad for it."

Police are still searching for the suspect.