A 14-year-old boy and his poodle were struck by an out-of-control driver in Gravesend Monday night, but was saved by the heroism of the cast and crew of a TV show bearing the neighborhood’s name.
Cops say that the youngster was walking his pup near W. Second Street and Avenue X at about 5:45 pm, when an 80-year-old woman driving a Chevy sedan lost control of her vehicle and rear-ended a parked Toyota, before and striking the kid on the sidewalk.
EMTs rushed the boy to Maimonides Medical Center, where he is currently in stable condition. The 80-year-old and her 85-year-old male passenger were taken to NYU Langone for evaluation.
The incident could have turned out far worse if not for the heroics of William DeMeo, a southern Brooklyn native, and actor currently starring on the Amazon Prime mob drama “Gravesend.”
DeMeo and the film crew were shooting a scene a block away when they heard a loud crash, the star told Brooklyn Paper.
When DeMeo went back to his trailer, producer Michele Frantzeskos gave the frantic news of a teen trapped underneath a car.
“So we ran to the other side of the street and this boy was underneath this car screaming and he had his dog with him,” DeMeo said.
DeMeo and fellow cast and crew members sprang into immediate action to rescue the boy from his predicament, working together to lift the car from atop him.
“Our crew, our security, one of the other cast members John Camera, we all just ran to the front of the car and we lifted the car off of the kid,” DeMeo said. “It just goes to show you when you’re in a situation the power of God and the power he gives you. We lifted the car two feet off of the kid. We were trying to tell everyone don’t move him, he was bleeding by his head. I just kept talking to him, telling him he was going to be alright.”
The poodle escaped from the wreck with “not a scratch,” the actor said.
The show’s current filming session wraps on Thursday; at that point, DeMeo says, “the first place I’m going after we wrap is to see this boy.”
Additional reporting by Meaghan McGoldrick
