2 dead, 4 injured after 16-year-old without license crashes stolen vehicle in NYC

On Monday morning, a group of teens in a stolen Hyundai Elantra plowed into a Jeep Grand Cherokee at an intersection in Upper Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.

The crash left two dead, and four injured. The 16-year-old driver of the Elantra and the Jeep's 53-year-old owner both survived.

According to ABC7, the five teens were traveling northbound on Audubon Avenue just before 7 am when they collided with the Jeep as it moved west through the 179th Street intersection.

The force of the crash sent both vehicles flying, with the Elantra rolling over before coming to rest near the sidewalk. Debris sailed in all directions, narrowly missing three innocent bystanders congregated in a nearby doorway. Two other vehicles parked on the side of the road were hit as well.

The Elantra was in such bad shape that the roof had to be cut off by first responders in order to remove the teens trapped inside.

Two of the passengers, aged 15 and 16, were rushed to New York Presbyterian-Columbia Hospital, but soon pronounced dead. The two other passengers, of the same age, are recovering at Harlem Hospital, as are the drivers of the Elantra and the Jeep.

As ABC7 reports, not only was the Elantra reported stolen in June, the 16-year-old driver did not have a license.

Spiro Theologis, who was in the area at the time, said he witnessed the teens driving erratically just minutes before the accident took place.

"I saw them run a light through my side view mirror, and then they kept running the lights without even slowing down," he said. "All I thought to myself is these kids are gonna get themselves killed or killed someone."

The New York Police Department has not released the identities of any of the people involved in the crash, nor whether the driver has been charged.