The allegedly drunken driver who killed two men and hurt three others after smashing onto a crowded sidewalk was just two blocks from home when the crash occurred, police said.
Elvin Suarez of Morningside Heights was hit with multiple counts of manslaughter, vehicular assault and DWI, cops said.
The chain-reaction began around 6 p.m. Friday when Suarez’s 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 SUV struck a parked 2013 Volkswagen Jetta SUV near West 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, cops said.
The Mercedes-Benz continued north through the intersection, driving over a concrete pedestrian island and hitting four men – ages 46, 44, 36 and 35, authorities said.
The vehicle then collided with a parked 1999 Chevrolet Astro van that was occupied by a 51-year-old man.
The van was pushed forward, which set off another set of collisions, police said.
The struck Chevy hit four other parked cars including a 2005 Honda CR-V, a 2001 Toyota Sienna, a 2005 Toyota 4Runner and a 2014 Nissan Altima, cops said.
In the hours after the crash, Suarez, 61, a longtime resident of the neighborhood, tested at a .1 blood alcohol content, above the .08 legal limit for driving, a police source said.
The four pedestrians, the Chevy Astro occupant and the Mercedes-Benz operator were taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital.
Michael Saint-Hilaire, a 35-year-old father of triplets, and doorman Jason Negron, 46, were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Suarez and the others were in stable condition, cops said.
