One Injured After Police Chase Ends In Crash In SoHo

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One person was hurt Tuesday after a police chase that started in New Jersey ended in a crash involving two luxury vehicles in SoHo.

CBS2 obtained exclusive video of the high-end sedan before it crossed the state line and smashed into an expensive sports car. As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, police were still looking for a driver late Tuesday afternoon.

A white 2017 BMW sat smashed at the corner of Broome and Greene streets Tuesday morning. It had been abandoned by the thief who took it for a joyride and escaped on foot out the car window after crashing into a Corvette and a fine art gallery.

A pillar stopped the car from driving into hundreds of thousands of dollars in sculptures.

"Fortunately, we had that pole, because otherwise the car would drive right through the gallery," said Amos Frajnd, director of Eden Fine Art.

Surveillance video showed the white sedan pulling away from its owner's house on Daugherty Road in Gillette, New Jersey at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"We're a dead-end block. The block behind us is a dead end in the river," said neighbor Kevin Franken, "so anybody coming here – to do something like that, they have to know what they want."

Around 2 a.m., police tried pulling over the car on Interstate 78 in Newark and followed the driver 10 miles to the Holland Tunnel. The stolen car went through, and state police stopped.

New Jersey State Police said they alerted Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police about the fleeing car. Port Authority police told CBS2 they alerted the NYPD.

Still, the thief was able to drive all the way to the posh cobblestone streets of SoHo – 30 miles from the secluded Morris County neighborhood where it originated.

"I literally just called my dad and I was like, 'Maybe we shouldn't leave our keys in the car anymore,' because my keys are in my car all the time," said neighbor Nick Malinouski.

The crash scene was clear late Tuesday afternoon, but with two luxury vehicles in pieces and a thief somewhere on the streets. Drivers in both New York and New Jersey are making sure to lock their cars.

The driver of the Corvette was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, but was otherwise expected to recover.