A group of motorcycle riders in Brooklyn is being praised after they stopped to help when they noticed a vehicle drifting into oncoming traffic. What they found inside was far more serious than anyone expected.
The incident happened on May 16 at the intersection of Beverly Road and Kings Highway. A group of roughly a dozen riders noticed a vehicle slowly crossing into the opposing lane and pulled over to investigate. Inside, they found two unconscious adults in the front seats and a frightened three-year-old child strapped into the back seat.
The driver, a 34-year-old man later identified by NYPD as Joseph Santanelli, and an adult female passenger were both unresponsive. The riders immediately began checking for signs of life and trying to wake the adults while making sure the child was safe.
Their actions were captured on video through smart glasses worn by one of the riders, footage that has since been viewed millions of times online.
Riders Pulled Over When Something Didn’t Look Right
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According to Chad, the group noticed the vehicle drifting into oncoming traffic and immediately turned around to investigate. When they reached the car, they discovered two unconscious adults in the front seats and a frightened toddler strapped into the back seat.
“[We] automatically turned around to see what was going on, and we got to the car, we acknowledged that it was a kid in the back of the car and the adults was passed out,” Chad told NBC Local. “So, the first thing that we did was try to come to the aid of the adults and then get the kid out of the car as fast as possible.”
Video from the scene shows the riders checking the pulses of the unresponsive driver and passenger while attempting to wake them. At one point, they removed the toddler from the vehicle and handed her to a nearby woman.
“Miss, can you hold the baby please? She’s scared,” Chad can be heard saying in the footage.
Chad said it took approximately eight or nine minutes for first responders to arrive.
When Santanelli regained consciousness, police said he became combative at the scene.
The Driver Faces Multiple Charges
According to the NYPD, Santanelli now faces five charges, including aggravated DWI and acting in a manner injurious to a child under the age of 17. The female passenger has not been charged.
In New York, an aggravated DWI charge generally indicates a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18 or higher, more than twice the state’s legal limit of 0.08.
The child was safely removed from the vehicle before the situation escalated, and Chad later described the experience as both traumatic and overwhelming for the riders involved.
“The majority of us that’s riding in the pack are fathers,” he said. “So, we just jumped into daddy mode.”
The Video Reached Millions of People
After the incident, Chad shared a portion of the footage on social media. He said his goal was to raise awareness and remind people to pay attention to their surroundings, especially when children are involved.
The response was far larger than he expected.
According to NBC, the Instagram video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times and received over 125,000 likes, along with thousands of comments and reposts.
Chad said one of the messages that stood out most came from the toddler’s mother, who he was told was not the woman inside the vehicle.
“It was heartwarming to get her to reach out to us and thank us and then seeing all the people on Instagram, social media actually thanking us too for actually being there,” he said.
What Happened Next
Following the incident, Chad said he spoke with Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy’s office, which provided the riders with Narcan, the medication used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses.
The group is also expected to participate in training later this month to learn how to properly administer the medication if they encounter another emergency while riding.
Chad said he hopes the incident helps people see motorcycle riders in a different light.
“I definitely would love for people to see that we’re not just people run the street and cause chaos,” he told NBC. “We are definitely willing to help. We’re human beings, too.”
The riders spotted a dangerous situation, helped a frightened child, assisted two unresponsive adults, and stayed on scene until help arrived. In a moment when they could have simply continued down the road, they chose to stop and help complete strangers.