GREENPOINT, Brooklyn (WABC) — In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, a woman says she was struck in the head by illegal fireworks set off in Brooklyn on the Fourth of July. She says she wants whoever is responsible to face consequences for their reckless actions.
The woman says her hair caught on fire and she now has a ruptured ear drum. Another man’s shirt was burned.
It happened Friday at Newtown Barge Park in Greenpoint. The area was packed with kids and families celebrating the holiday.
A woman who was in the park says a man and a small group of people started setting off several rounds of what appeared to be commercial-grade fireworks in the middle of the park. This reportedly caused a chaotic scene with people running to get away from the explosives.
“If you’re going to choose to do illegal fireworks on July 4th, at least be savvy enough to do it where you are not going to affect anyone , doing it in the crowd of families is sociopathic,” said the woman, who chose to remain anonymous.
The woman said she then saw a huge firework hurling towards her head.
“It exploded right next to my ear. The third one had those off shoots, maybe ten or more that went directly sideways into the crowd,” she said.
The woman says she and others approached the group and when they told them to stop it got tense quickly.
“I saw a lot of laughing, a lot of ‘it’s already done, what do you want us to do?’ energy,” she adds.
She says she initially spoke with three NYPD officers and is upset they didn’t appear to do anything to the man with the fireworks.
“I don’t think I consciously stayed because I thought it was ok, I was a little frozen to be honest,” the woman added.
Officials tell Eyewitness News that police are investigating.
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