Suspect in Serial N.Y. Hit-Run Held

NEW YORK —  A bizarre Manhattan serial hit-and-run case took a turn Thursday, with midtown pedestrians again paying the price.

Two days after crashing his sedan into 19 people along a 20-block stretch, authorities said, Ronald Popadich carjacked a vehicle at a New Jersey mall, then returned to the scene of Tuesday’s first hit-and-run crime, crashing into seven people in a midtown crosswalk.

Just as he had Tuesday, authorities said, Popadich left the mayhem behind by fleeing into the subway.

About 90 minutes after abandoning the carjacked Volkswagen Jetta in Manhattan, Popadich was arrested at his mother’s home in Garfield, N.J., not far from where a woman police believe he shot was found critically wounded Sunday.

Police said Popadich admitted that he deliberately crashed into his victims on both days.

On Thursday, Popadich, 39, crashed into three people crossing Seventh Avenue at 34th Street. He then made a U-turn and slammed into four more pedestrians on the other side of Seventh before speeding away, police said.

Popadich drove another block and then, bleeding from the nose, pushed through a crowd before ducking into the subway, investigators said.

Left in the car was a .32-caliber, six-shot Smith & Wesson handgun police believe Popadich used to shoot Lisa Gotkin, 40. She was shot twice.

While police in riot gear and bloodhounds searched the midtown area, Popadich later told authorities, he jumped into a taxi and made the 15-mile trip to his mother’s home.

Neighbors said that Popadich’s mother, Violet, then called Bergen County police and told them her son had returned. The 77-year-old mother then left the house.

Police surrounded the house with guns drawn as Popadich hid in the basement, authorities said. They spoke to him by phone and he came outside at 12:40 p.m.

Authorities said that one pedestrian hit Thursday was in serious condition, one was treated and released and the other five were in stable condition at hospitals, police said.

None of the injuries from Tuesday’s hit-and-run were life-threatening.

Popadich, held in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, was to be arraigned on attempted murder and weapons charges today.

“All I know is that somebody came into our city and hurt our citizens . . . and that he’s caught,” said New York Police Department Chief of Detectives William Allee. “He’s not going to do it again.”