BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Car service driver Aly Elsawah is still reflecting on the two “too-close-for-comfort” encounters he had with the U-Haul truck that barreled through several Brooklyn neighborhoods Monday.
Elsawah said he first spotted the truck, allegedly driven by 62-year-old Weng Sor, on Bay Ridge Parkway after it struck an electric scooter rider. “All of a sudden I see the U-Haul truck coming toward me,” said Elsawah.
Elsawah said he saw the truck again while he stood in front of his car service base station on Third Avenue. It’s the same corner where surveillance cameras recorded the rented U-Haul as it struck yet another scooter rider, before it hopped up on the sidewalk with an NYPD cruiser in pursuit.
Sor is accused of hitting a nine people, including eight civilians and one injured police officer.
Of the civilians, 44-year-old single father Yijie Ye died. Another civilian, Mohammed Rachi, is in a medically induced coma.
Sor appeared in court for the first time Wednesday to face murder and other charges. Sor was experiencing a mental health crisis while behind the wheel, according to police.
In court, prosecutors said Sor told detectives he was hallucinating, adding he stated, “I wanted to hit those people,” and “that’s why I did it.”
Elsawah, who dodged the suspect’s rampage not once but twice, said he blames Sor for recklessly, and unnecessarily, putting innocent lives in danger.
“I feel bad for him. But I don’t really feel that bad. Because if something drove him to do that … why are you risking other people’s lives?” said Elsawah.
Sor did not make any statement in court and did not enter a plea. He is due back in court on March 16.
