University of Miami Kid Gets His Foot Literally Blown Off By Stray Firework In Central Park
NYDN – A “homemade” explosive left in Central Park for more than 24 hours blew off the foot of a college student Sunday, authorities said, raising fears on the eve of the Fourth of July.
Connor Golden, 18, of Fairfax, Va., had just climbed down off a rock near E. 60th St. and Fifth Ave. about 10:52 a.m. when he stepped on the “shock-sensitive” explosive, Lt. Mark Torre, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, said. It was inside a black plastic bag when it exploded, a high-ranking police source said.
A disintegrated matchbook was found nearby, leading investigators to believe that someone tried to set it off sometime Friday, but left it behind when it didn’t work, the high-ranking police source said.
One witness said the victim’s foot was “all but gone.”
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4th of July giveth, 4th of July taketh away. One of the best holidays on the books, a celebration of the independence of the greatest country of all time, 99% of the population posted up with domestic beers next to family and friends listening to good old American tunes and getting a savage tan. But there’s always the handful of people who get screwed over – the ones that get stuck working, get dragged along to a bum ass cookout with people they don’t know, have to go to some wedding of a family member they don’t care about, get their lower leg blown the fuck off in Central Park.
Hinds, a student at Northwestern University, had just stepped off a large rock in the park with Golden behind him when the blast went off.
“I got down the hill and boom, my ears were ringing. I felt a wave. A gust hit me in the back,” Hinds told the Daily News in an interview from the 19th Precinct stationhouse.
“I turned around and saw him on the ground with his foot bleeding. It just demolished his foot. His foot was mutilated.”
Golden groaned on the ground but remained conscious.
“His foot was gone and he handled it pretty well,” Hinds said. “He’s a tough guy. .. . All he said was, ‘Get help.’”
“I just hope they can save his foot,” Hinds said of his pal, who studies music engineering at the University of Miami.
Awful. Nobody deserves that on the 4th. Seriously if I’m this Miami kid I use every resource I possibly can to to track down the dumbass who left their “dud” firework just sitting out in the open of Central freaking Park and cost me my damn leg. Beat the shit out of him and have him deported or something, somebody like that doesn’t belong here.
[NY Daily News, Getty Images]