An ex-con on lifetime parole has been criminally charged in the booze-fueled crash that injured six people at an NYPD-sponsored Halloween event in Brooklyn, cops said Friday.
Michael Marsh, 56, was hit with charges including vehicular assault, drunk driving, reckless endangerment, driving on the sidewalk and driving without a seat belt for the Thursday afternoon crash.
His arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court was pending. He lives in Crown Heights, cops said.
Driving a black sedan, the out-of-control Marsh careened onto the sidewalk on Bleecker St. near Knickerbocker Ave. outside the 83rd Precinct in Bushwick around 3:54 p.m., cops said. His vehicle struck the six pedestrians before slamming into a parked ambulance.
Precinct cops were holding a “trunk or treat” event where they doled out Halloween candy to young children.
A woman, 74, and a boy, 8, were taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center; a woman, 31, and two girls, ages 6 and 11, were taken to Bellevue Hospital; and a woman, 58, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital. All the victims are expected to survive.
Hyacinth Gordon, 64, was enjoying the festivities with her two grandchildren when the driver roared onto the sidewalk.
“The guy came down Bleecker at top speed,” she said. “He mounted the sidewalk and ran into the ambulance. His airbag deployed.”
“I managed to grab my 3-year-old granddaughter and ran. You didn’t have much of a chance to run, but you did if you could.”
Gordon’s 8-year-old grandson was among those injured, struck by a garbage can sent flying when the driver’s car slammed into it, she said.
“My grandson was on the ground,” she said. “He has a broken left hand. He was in a daze. He has a concussion. By the time he got to the hospital, he was vomiting.”
A police source said following the Thursday crash, Marsh had a blood alcohol content of 0.264 — more than three times the legal limit.
The 83rd Precinct’s “Trunk-or-Treat” event featured free candy, a DJ, decorated police cars and a chance to meet an NYPD K9 unit.
Marsh was released from state prison in January and was put on lifetime parole after serving a 26-year stint for a robbery conviction, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision records show.
On January 22, 1999, Marsh held a cab driver at knifepoint in Crown Heights and robbed him of $110, a cell phone, and a cell phone charger, according to court documents.
The next morning, Marsh struck again in Bedford-Stuyvesant, this time stabbing a second cab driver in the neck, arm, and back, while demanding he fork over his cash. The cabbie had to get surgery on his right thumb, which suffered impaired movement after the attack, the documents said.
Police nabbed Marsh the following day and found a folding knife and his first victim’s cell phone on him.
He was later convicted of robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, and promoting prison contraband in the first degree.