NEW YORK _ A drunken driver capped off his birthday by losing control of his BMW and slamming into a Brooklyn building, causing a partial collapse before fleeing the scene, cops said Tuesday.
Andrew Baird was speeding when he slammed into the storefront of a closed bodega on Avenue P near E. 5th Street in Midwood about 11:40 p.m. Monday _ his 20th birthday, officials said.
"It sounded like a bomb went off," said neighbor Dina Ramirez, 15. "I felt the house shake a little bit. It sounded like an explosion. We heard the car trying to stop. Nothing like this has ever happened."
Almost instantly, debris began raining down on the BMW as the building crumbled into a heaping pile of splintered debris. The roof of the building, still pretty much intact, slid down the rubble pile and almost met the sidewalk.
Baird managed to get out of the car and run off but cops grabbed him a few blocks away.
A second man was also seen fleeing from the scene, according to witnesses. Resident Tobey Salem said that man cut through his backyard.
"I heard a noise in my backyard and I saw the guy trying to climb over the fence into my side," Salem, 62, said. "I yelled at him, 'Get out of here!' He was wearing a black jacket with letters on the back and he covered his face. Then he went to Kings Highway."
"He was wobbling and grunting when I saw him," Salem added.
Police said Baird was drinking before the crash and was taken to an area hospital for observation and tests. He was then brought back to the 61st Precinct stationhouse in Sheepshead Bay, where cops charged him with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, drunken driving, leaving the scene of accident and driving while impaired.
No other arrests have been made.
The car was still stuck in the crumbled building Tuesday morning. The city Department of Buildings was assessing the damage.
