A police chase this afternoon ended with a car flying into a Bronx storefront, sending terrified pedestrians and shoppers scrambling for safety, witnesses said.
The high speed noontime chase came to a fiery end when an allegedly stolen Dodge Caravan being pursued by cops slammed into the driver’s side of a 1996 Nissan at Longwood Avenue and Beck Street.
The impact forced Nissan driver Kiko Bartollo, 41, to jump the curb and eventually crash into a shuttered storefront on Longwood Avenue.
“I thought the car was coming right into the store,” said a woman who works at a neighboring hair salon. “It was swerving and everyone started running into the back of the store, it was terrible.”
The driver of the stolen van ran from the scene but was eventually arrested, as was his female passenger, witnesses said.
Bartollo, who had been heading to McDonald’s to grab a happy meal for his 8-year-old daughter, was taken to Lincoln Hospital after being extracted from the car.
The extent of his injuries is unclear.