An early-morning joy ride along Ponfield Road turned into a terrible tragedy on Saturday as a group of young Bronxville men lost control of their car and it ran into a telephone pole.
When police and onlookers arrived on the scene, six of the seven boys were seemingly dead. The force of impact must have been very strong because three of the young men were laying on the street. The driver was hunkered over the steering wheel, apparently dead from head injuries.
Witnesses said the car apparently hit a big pile of money that had been left in the middle of the street. “It must have fallen out of a commuter’s car late Friday night,” said Mrs. Smith, who watched the grisly events unfold early Saturday morning.
“The boys weren’t acting in a very responsible manner,” Mrs. Smith reported. “They all had their heads sticking out of windows. They were waving their arms and screaming. It’s no wonder they didn’t see the money sitting in the middle of the road.”
According to a Mr. Wallace, who had seen the boys begin their ride at the top of the hill, several of the boys were riding on the outside of the car, two on the hood, and one holding on to a window from the running board.
“I knew that something bad was going to happen,” Mr. Wallace said. “I’ve never seen such an irresponsible lot in my life. I heard that Nos boy was behind this. He should lose his license. They could have hit someone.”
The impact with the telephone pole was enough to jar open the front hood and the trunk, where one of the boys was unwisely riding. He appeared to be thrown from the car and cracked his head on the pavement. (continued below)
When police showed up on the scene most of the boys, including two young Thompsons, had inexplicably recovered. An ambulance that had been called to the scene by Mrs. Smith was sent back empty. “I don’t know how they survived,” said Mrs. Smith. “I hope they learned their lesson.”