After a mile-long pursuit through Brooklyn, a guy driving a U-Haul truck drove onto sidewalks and crashed into bicycles and scooter riders in New York City, killing one and injuring eight.
The driver was apprehended. His son identified him as unstable 62-year-old Weng Sor. The vehicle smashed into people in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood for 48 minutes before driving on and off a highway as police chased it.
NEW: 1 person has died following the Uhaul attack in Brooklyn. Police say 62-year-old Weng Sor intentionally drove through 7 different areas of the borough killing 1 person and injuring 8 others including a police officer. More on @NY1
— Victoria Manna (@Victoriamanna) February 14, 2023
Details of the Incident
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell called it a “violent rampage” without “terrorist participation.” The car hit nine persons aged 30–66 — all males. Police were also hurt.
The truck killed a 44-year-old man around 30 minutes after hitting the first victim, the police said.
A police vehicle stopped the truck and wedged it against a structure near the entrance to a Brooklyn-Manhattan tunnel, more than three miles from where the chase began.
Stephen Sor, 30, claimed his father had a psychological disorder and lived in Las Vegas, where he was arrested and spent time for many violent crimes, including stabbing his brother.
Stephen Sor stated he often skips his prescriptions. He was arrested before. He’s been jailed before.
The tragedy shattered the late-morning schedule. It immediately triggered memories of other vehicle violent attacks on bikers and commuters in the busy city, such as a terrorist’s 2017 attack on a Manhattan bike trail that killed eight individuals, as well as a disturbed motorist’s 2017 Times Square rampage that brutally murdered one and injured 20.
The truck hit the first person at 10:17 a.m., police said. Further complaints followed as it drove through a popular Brooklyn neighborhood north of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge overlooking New York Harbor.
Katherine Aronova observed the U-Haul jump a red light, strike an e-bike delivery worker, dragging him.
A surveillance video caught the vehicle striking a scooter, skidding onto a sidewalk, and nearly hitting a person, who dove to safety. A speeding police cruiser followed the truck along the sidewalk.
🔴NEW YORK :#VIDEO MOMENT WHEN A U-HAUL TRUCK RAMS INTO PEDESTRIANS IN BROOKLYN!
🔴 WARNING! GRAPHIC
8 People injured.
62-Year old Suspect Weng Sor in custody#BreakingNews #UltimaHora #Brooklyn #Murder #Asesinato #Meurtre pic.twitter.com/z9EmHZ0nql— loveworld (@LoveWorld_Peopl) February 13, 2023
After the chase, officials checked the car for explosives.
Jeff Lockridge, a U-Haul official, said Sor leased the vehicle on February 1 in West Palm Beach, Florida and agreed to return it on March 3. He pre-paid for a 30-day rental with a legitimate driver’s license. Lockridge claimed Sor had never rented from U-Haul before now.
Unstable
Stephen Sor was stunned when Weng Sor turned up in Brooklyn in the late hours of the night a week ago. He called their relationship “rocky” and said they rarely spoke.
Stephen Sor said he distances himself from his father.
As per court and jail records, Weng Sor attacked his brother in Las Vegas in 2015. He received 364 days in county prison for stabbing someone in the arm and chest in 2020.
Court documents reveal Sor was evaluated at state mental hospitals for months before pleading guilty. Sor was medicated, but no diagnosis was given.
In 2005, Sor was sentenced to therapy and community work for misdemeanor violence in Nevada. Sor was relocating to New York, so the judge ordered a mental health evaluation.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
