Garbage truck driver charged with drunk driving after plowing into 9 cars in Brooklyn
BOROUGH PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A garbage truck driver has been charged with driving while impaired after plowing into nine vehicles in Brooklyn Saturday, causing one vehicle to stack on top of another.
The driver, 40-year-old Anthony Castaldo of Brooklyn, is accused of severely damaging several cars and a front porch and knocking down trees while driving near 60th Street and 19th Avenue in Borough Park.
PHOTOS: Brooklyn garbage truck accident
Witnesses said the driver looked disoriented and tried to run, but police were right behind him.
"I come out just to see where he is," said one witness. "I said what did you do here, how did you lose control of your car, or truck. He didn't answer me. He jumped out, ran there, went all the way around on 19th Avenue to 59th Street and that's where he ran into a chain-link fence, and that's where they subdued him."
No injuries were reported.
Castaldo is also charged with reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. Castaldo posted bail on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Viking Sanitation released a statement Saturday saying,
"Our company has a long track record of safety and we hold ourselves to high standards, including random drug testing for drivers. It appears that this driver failed to adhere to our standards and he was immediately suspended as part of the ongoing investigation of this serious incident."
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