Metro

Driver Imani Lucas, 29, charged in NYC hit-and-run told cops ‘Jesus made me do it’

The hit-and-run driver who plowed into seven pedestrians, including an Italian tennis coach, in Midtown — before getting into a second crash in Queens — may have been suffering from a manic episode, her mother said, as attempted murder charges were filed against the motorist.

Imani Lucas, 29, stayed mum as she was led out of the NYPD’s Midtown South precinct on Tuesday, sporting a gray T-shirt reading “Good Vibes,” black jeans, and flip-flops.

She ignored reporters’ questions about whether God had told her to strike the innocent pedestrians — or if she had anything to say to the victims — as cops escorted her into a waiting police cruiser on the way to Central Booking just after 10:45 a.m.

Lucas has been slapped with seven counts each of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident, and reckless driving in connection to the Sunday night crash at West 36th Street and Sixth Avenue, authorities said.

While in custody, Lucas was acting irrationally and told cops “Jesus made me do it,” sources told The Post. 

Imani Lucas was led out of the NYPD’s Midtown South precinct on Tuesday. William Farrington

Lucas, who spent time at Long Island Jewish Medical Center before being brought back to the Midtown stationhouse, likely suffered a mental health episode, according to cops and her mother, who says she suffers from bipolar disorder and may have been experiencing a manic episode at the time of the crash. 

“She said she was hearing voices,” her mother, Melissa Lucas, told Gothamist

Imani Lucas, 29, has been identified as the driver charged in the hit-and-run. Facebook/Imani Lucas

Her mother described receiving a distressing call from her daughter Sunday night while she was away on vacation with her husband. 

“I asked her, I said, ‘Imani, where are you?’ She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know where she was going. She said, ‘I’m just driving. I’m just driving.’ And I said, ‘Where are you?’ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’ And then that’s when I think I heard a police officer coming up to her talking, and then I heard something like Bayside, Queens.” 

Lucas was living with her parents in New Jersey but worked in the city, her mom said, noting that she had “made really big strides” towards independence. 

Lucas has been charged with seven counts each of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident, and reckless driving. G.N.Miller/NYPost
Police at the scene of the accident where multiple pedestrians were struck by a hit-and-run driver at West 36th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Robert Mecea

“She is on medication and she, as far as we knew, said she was taking her medication,” her mother said. “This episode coming on all of a sudden. I don’t know what to think or what all precipitated it.” 

Investigators said they have reason to believe Lucas was coming from her parent’s New Jersey home Sunday night, but aren’t sure where she was going, according to law enforcement sources. 

Lucas was driving a Honda Accord when she tore through a red light just before midnight, struck the pedestrians in the crosswalk, and kept going — making her way through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, authorities said.  

One of the pedestrians — a 34-year-old woman who was initially listed in critical condition after suffering a spinal cord injury — was identified by a relative as Italian tennis coach Giulia Gardani, La Voce di New York reported.  

Lucas, who spent time at Long Island Jewish Medical Center before being brought back to the Midtown stationhouse, likely suffered a mental health episode, according to police and her mother. G.N.Miller/NYPost
A 29-year-old Honda Accord driver who allegedly struck seven pedestrians in a Midtown crosswalk has been hospitalized for a psych evaluation. Juan Gonzalez/NY Post
The driver complained of pain and was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, police said. Juan Gonzalez/NY Post

Gardani, who was on the last day of her vacation with her husband when she was struck, has since been upgraded to a stable condition.

All of the other pedestrians also suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Four men, ages 24 to 60, were also rushed to Bellevue, including a 27-year-old suffering two broken legs, sources said.

Six men and one woman were struck by the hit-and-run driver, police said. Shahzaib Arshad

A 32-year-old man was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, and a 30-year-old man refused medical attention at the scene. 

The fleeing motorist then went on to strike two cars on the Long Island Expressway near the 188th Street exit in Queens before her car became disabled, police said. 

Lucas — who tested negative for alcohol — was nabbed at the scene after cops matched her license plate to the Midtown crash, according to sources.

All of the pedestrians suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

“It’s in God’s hands,” she told police upon arrest, according to law enforcement sources.

No one was hurt in the second crash, cops said.

The other drivers were able to continue on their way after giving their information to the police, authorities said. 

Lucas was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Larry Celona

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