Multiple cars hit during early morning crash

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

A Mercedes Benz SUV that caused an 8-car accident on Van Vranken Avenue near Lang Street catches fire shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, September 4, 2021.

A driver sustained only minor injuries during a crash early Saturday morning that ended with the driver colliding with a total of eight cars.

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Schenectady City police officers responded around 3 a.m. to the area of Van Vranken Avenue and Lang Street for a report of a multiple car accident.

A person, who has not been identified, driving a Mercedes southbound on Van Vranken Avenue at a high rate of speed hit another car that had pulled out from the curb and had also started traveling southbound, said Pat Irwin, the department’s public information officer. He said because the driver of the Mercedes was traveling at a high speed it caused both the Mercedes and the other vehicle to then collide with seven other unoccupied cars parked on the side of the road.

Irwin said the Mercedes briefly caught on fire, but the driver was not inside and the fire was extinguished quickly by the fire department.

The driver of the Mercedes complained about face pain and was brought to Ellis Hospital as a precaution. The driver received two tickets, Irwin said.