A deadly three-car crash in Gowanus left one man dead and several others injured after a car went up in flames Sunday evening, police said.
It happened just after 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and 9th Street. Investigators say a Honda Odyssey heading north on 2nd Avenue slammed into a Mercedes Benz crossing on 9th Street. The impact pushed the Mercedes into a Dodge, and one of the cars quickly caught fire.
Video from the scene shows FDNY firefighters racing to the burning vehicle while people nearby shouted, “It’s on fire!” Crews had to pull someone out of the wreck.
Police said the man driving the Mercedes, 34-year-old Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero of Lodi, New Jersey, was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. A 38-year-old woman riding in the Honda remains in critical condition. Two other men from that same Honda, along with the 49-year-old driver of the Dodge, are stable.
Detectives say the Honda’s driver, 38-year-old Alexey Ivanov of Brooklyn, was arrested Sunday night. He’s now charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, reckless endangerment, obstruction of governmental administration, reckless driving, and disobeying a traffic control device.
Police say the investigation is still active as they work to learn what led up to the crash.