An Elmhurst man was among three people pulled from the murky depths of Newtown Creek in Long Island City after a “souped up sedan” plunged into the waterway early Saturday morning, according to the authorities.
Luis Cuadros, 30, of Lamont Avenue, was pulled from the wreckage after NYPD divers responded to a 911 call and discovered the submerged vehicle in the creek along Borden Avenue near Review Avenue, two straightaways long-favored by drag racers.
“Within 10 minutes after [the 911 call], we had divers in the water and approximately 10 minutes after that, we recovered two victims and pulled them out of the water,” said FDNY Deputy Chief Fred Mallett.
Cuadros and 25-year-old Quameek Mack of Freeport, Long Island, were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in Astoria, where they were pronounced dead.
A third unidentified 30-year-old victim was found later in the morning and taken to Cornell Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
A preliminary investigation determined the vehicle was traveling westbound on Borden Avenue around 4:45 a.m. at “an apparent high rate of speed” when the vehicle lost control, struck a Jersey barrier and entered Newtown Creek. The area beneath the Long Island Expressway is known as a location used by skateboarders.
“Speed was a factor in the crash,” an NYPD spokesman said.
The NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad continues to investigate.
