Crash forces road closure in Hempstead

A car whose driver told police he was racing to a local hospital crashed into a taxi cab which then struck a pedestrian in Hempstead early Thursday, leaving six injured and forcing the closure of several roads surrounding the crash scene at the intersection of Fulton Avenue and Clinton Street.

Hempstead police said two of the men inside the hospital-bound car had been previously stabbed -- though the circumstances of that assault remain under investigation. One of those men had what police called "serious" wounds from the stabbing.

All of the other injured had either minor or non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The crash occurred at 2:45 a.m. and has closed southbound North Franklin Street from Jackson Street to Fulton, closed Fulton from Washington Street to Robson Place and closed Clinton from Cooper Street to Jackson. Police said those sections of road are expected to remain closed at least through the morning rush hour.

It was not immediately clear to which hospital the stabbing victims were headed.

Police said the force of the initial crash pinned the driver of the taxi and his passenger in the cab and said both men needed to be extricated by volunteers from the Hempstead Fire Department. Those victims were transported to Nassau University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The two stabbing victims were transported to Winthrop Hospital.

Police said the pedestrian struck in the collision was transported to Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre with what police called minor injuries. Amazingly, Hempstead police Lt. Francis McNamee said, "He was fine. Up and walking around, minor injuries."