The lead guitarist of the rock band They Might Be Giants was injured in a “dramatic” car crash on the Upper East Side with an alleged drunk driver who cops say blew a red light.
The wreck occurred around 12:45 a.m. Thursday as John Flansburgh was taking a car service from his band’s show at the Bowery Ballroom when his ride was t-boned by a Honda at Park Avenue and E. 102nd Street, according to cops and Flansburgh’s own account.
“I was in a rather dramatic car accident,” Flansburgh wrote in an Instragram post. “Crossing into an intersection, our car was t-boned by a vehicle going at a very fast speed.
“The force of the impact actually flipped our car over to its side. While the driver and I oriented ourselves to our new sideways, broken glass and airbag-filled reality, we sensed the ominous smell of motor oil and smoke.”
Flansburgh said he was “forever grateful” for the city firemen and EMS who were able to “liberate” him and his driver from the wreck and rushed them to the hospital.
A doctor told Flansburgh he broke seven ribs in multiple places and he “wasn’t going to be anywhere but in a bed for the foreseeable future,” according to the post.
“While the pain in my side has only gotten worse since, it is my heart that is really breaking over these events,” the musician said of having to delay the current tour of the alternative rock band, which is best known for the 80s college radio hit “Birdhouse in Your Soul.”
Cops say William Mota was driving the Honda that smashed into Flansburg’s car after running a red light at the intersection.
When police arrived, The Bronx man told cops that he wasn’t driving and the car wasn’t his, according to the NYPD.
He later tried to grab his stuff from the car and run off but cops stopped him.
Mota was charged with DWI, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, refusing a breathalyzer and traffic violations.
