MAN INJURED BY SPOOKED HORSE IN CENTRAL PARK
By Alison Gendar and Leo Standora - NY Daily News - April 29, 2006
A young carriage horse on a training run got spooked and ran wild in Central
Park yesterday, seriously injuring a 71-year-old bicyclist, police said.
The impact sent Lawrence McKittrick sprawling near 64th St. and Central Drive
about 2:30 p.m. Police said he was taken to New York Weill Cornell Medical
Center with what appeared to be a broken hip.
Santana Altarico, who was driving the empty carriage, told cops he lost
control of the horse, which jumped off East Drive and galloped into a grassy
area near 67th St.
The frightened driver said it was there he leapt from the carriage injuring
his knee. He was treated at Roosevelt Hospital.
The horse continued west where it collided with McKittrick. How it was
finally corralled was unclear.
Yesterday's mishap came three months after a spooked horse bolted on a
midtown street, galloped into a station wagon and sent his driver flying from
the passenger-less carriage.
Driver Carmelo Vargas, 36, suffered a fractured skull and a man and his son
in the station wagon suffered minor injuries. The horse suffered a broken leg
and had to be euthanized.
The harrowing incident sparked heated debate over whether horse-drawn cabs
should be banned in the city.
Despite the uproar, Mayor Bloomberg said the city won't be scrapping the cabs
anytime soon. However, under a City Council bill introduced later, the cabs
would be confined to Central Park.
Return to Media
