A 30-year-old Queens man is fighting for his life at Elmhurst Hospital Center after he was run down by a drunken biker at the intersection of Broadway and Steinway Street, police said.
Cops said the victim was crossing the intersection at about 3:15 a.m. on August 25 when the biker blew a red light on his 2009 Yamaha and slammed into the unidentified man. The impact was so great that it sent the victim flying into mid-air, landing approximately 10-feet from the site of impact, police sources said.
Biker Jose Salas, 30, remained at the scene until police arrived and was charged with DWI, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, driving while ability impaired and violating a traffic device, police said.
Salas was arraigned at Queens Criminal Court where he was held in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Cops also busted two unlicensed bikers who were with Salas when he struck the victim. Meto Adovic, 25, was arraigned at Queens Criminal Court on a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and was fined $75, authorities said.
Akira Rodriguez, 29 was also charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was also slapped with a $75 fine at his arraignment at Queens Criminal Court.
The victim is listed in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
The accident occurred in the midst of a Queens-wide NYPD crackdown on drunk driving. The zero-tolerance enforcement includes a crackdown on motorists caught speaking and/or texting messages on cellphones and motorists who fail to “buckle-up”, police officials said.
The enforcement will continue in Queens neighborhoods, “throughout and beyond” the Labor Day weekend, police officials said.