Driver dies in Brooklyn rail-yard crash.
Driver Francois Cadely, 70, died in a crash recorded at 12:44 p.m. Dec. 30 at Vanderbilt Avenue and Pacific Street; CBS News reported that he drove through a fence into a rail yard, where his passenger was critically injured.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
On Dec. 30, 2022, the NYC crash record logged one death and one injury in a 12:44 p.m. crash at Vanderbilt Avenue and Pacific Street in Brooklyn. CBS News identified driver Francois Cadely, 70, and said his 60-year-old passenger was critically injured. CBS cited witness D Elliott, who heard a car accelerate from a McDonald's ramp and stepped aside as the driver took the Audi through a fence; it described a 30-foot drop, while FOX 5 reported more than 20 feet. Separately, 1010 WINS reported that police described a medical episode, loss of control and a descent over a bridge side. News accounts differ on whether Cadely was pronounced dead at the scene or at a hospital.
Reported vehicle makes
- Audi — accepted press report
Make information is incomplete for the vehicles involved in this crash.
Witnesses described different details of the descent.
CBS News reported that witness D Elliott heard a car accelerate from a McDonald's ramp and stepped aside as the driver took the Audi through a fence. CBS estimated the descent at 30 feet; FOX 5 reported more than 20 feet.
Separately, 1010 WINS reported that police described a medical episode around 12:44 p.m., loss of control and a descent over the side of a bridge into the LIRR yard.
The reported locations differ.
The official record places the crash at Vanderbilt Avenue and Pacific Street in Brooklyn. CBS News described Vanderbilt Avenue near Atlantic Avenue, while 1010 WINS placed the bridge at Atlantic and Vanderbilt avenues above the LIRR yard.
The driver and passenger were identified in news reports.
CBS News identified Francois Cadely, 70, as the driver and a 60-year-old woman as the passenger, who was critically injured. The official record identifies a 70-year-old male driver as the person killed and records one person killed and one injured.
The official record lists a westbound Audi.
The official record lists a 2021 Audi, categorized as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle, traveling west with two occupants. CBS News also identified the vehicle Cadely was driving as an Audi.
Police considered a possible medical event.
1010 WINS reported that police said the driver suffered a medical episode; FOX 5 said police believed he may have suffered one. CBS News reported that police were awaiting autopsy results.
Reports differed on where Cadely was pronounced dead.
1010 WINS reported that FDNY responders pulled both occupants from the car, pronounced Cadely dead at the scene and took the passenger to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in critical condition. CBS News reported that both were taken to Methodist Hospital and Cadely was pronounced dead there.
CBS News also reported that LIRR service was not disrupted.