A 17-year-old with no driver's license allegedly plowed into 13 parked cars on East Second Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday, then fled the scene with a 16-year-old passenger still in the vehicle, according to police. Officers eventually caught up with both teens, leaving behind a stretch of the block littered with debris and crumpled bumpers.
The crash unfolded along East Second Street between Avenue P and Quentin Road, according to BKReader. All 13 vehicles struck were parked and unoccupied at the time, so no one was hurt, police said, according to CBS News New York. Police took both teenagers into custody after the crash.
Resident Joseph Coluccio, who had a firsthand view of the damaged cars and the police response, described the aftermath as complete commotion with cars all over the place. His account echoed that of neighbor Michael Coluccio, who said the crashes sounded like repeated bangs as they happened.
Neighbors Describe a Street Covered in Car Parts
Sandi Alashkar had parked her own vehicle on the block about 10 minutes before the crash, only to find its front bumper damaged afterward. She said the entire street was filled with car parts once the dust settled, a description that matched the scattered wreckage other neighbors reported seeing up and down the block.
Police gave the 17-year-old driver a summons for driving without a license and another for leaving the scene. No injuries were reported. Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 600(1)(a), leaving the scene of a property-damage-only accident without reporting it is a traffic infraction, according to the Benjamin Goldman Law Office, carrying penalties of up to a $250 fine, a mandatory $93 surcharge, three driving-record points and up to 15 days in jail. Separately, operating a vehicle without a valid license under VTL Section 509(1) can bring a fine between $75 and $300 along with court surcharges and up to 15 days in jail, according to Rosenblum Law.
A Teen Behind the Wheel Was Already Breaking State Law
Beyond the license question, SafeMotorist says junior license holders aged 16 and 17 are barred from driving unescorted anywhere in New York City at any time of day, per SafeMotorist, which notes the city requires a licensed adult age 21 or older in the front seat.
The crash site falls under the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 61st Precinct, which patrols Gravesend along with Sheepshead Bay, Kings Highway and Manhattan Beach in southern Brooklyn, according to the NYPD. The block sits in Gravesend, where Hoodline previously reported that a driver critically injured an 11-year-old on a scooter in October 2025 before fleeing overseas and eventually being arrested this past April.
Part of a Grim Stretch for Brooklyn Traffic Safety
The Gravesend crash lands in the middle of a difficult few days for traffic safety across southern Brooklyn. On August 29, a 28-year-old NYU Langone nurse was killed while crossing Third Avenue in Sunset Park, roughly four miles north of Gravesend, in a hit-and-run that prompted renewed calls from city officials to speed up street redesigns, as reported by CBS News. Days earlier, on August 25, three teenagers aged 16, 17 and 18 died in a two-vehicle crash on the Belt Parkway, according to News 12 Brooklyn.
Citywide, hit-and-run drivers are rarely caught even when someone is hurt. Hoodline has previously reported that arrest rates for injury hit-and-runs in New York City fell from 8.6% in 2018 to just 3.6% in 2023, meaning more than 96% of those drivers were not arrested. The East Second Street crash involved property damage but no reported injuries. The crash also falls within the broader discussion of traffic enforcement and Vision Zero. Police-reported motor vehicle collisions are part of the broader traffic-safety picture.
For now, East Second Street is left to clean up the physical damage, while the two teenagers face traffic summonses.
