‘S.W.A.T.’ and ‘SEAL Team’ Actress Carrie Bernans Critically Injured in Hit-and-Run

S.W.A.T. and Seal Team actress Carrie Bernans has been hospitalized with serious injuries following a hit-and-run accident in New York City on New Year’s Day. Bernans, an actress and stuntwoman whose work also includes The Color Purple and Black Panther, was injured alongside eight other people when a driver crashed into an outdoor dining area at the Chirp restaurant in Manhattan at around 1:30 a.m. Monday, according to a statement from her representative.

Police confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE that the crash occurred after officers responded to a physical assault involving the 44-year-old male driver of a black Mercedes and a 34-year-old female passenger. Officers attempted to “de-escalate the situation and ordered the male operator of the vehicle to put the vehicle into park.” However, the driver “failed to obey the officers’ orders and fled westbound on 33rd Street before making a right turn onto 7th Avenue counter flow to traffic.” The driver ultimately “crashed into an outdoor dining shed at Chirp, a Peruvian restaurant, then backed up and rammed into another car before officers swarmed,” Bernan’s rep said. Along with Bernan, two NYPD officers and the passenger of the Mercedes were injured. The driver, only identified as a 44-year-old man, is in custody at Bellevue Hospital.

Bernans, who is a new mother, “is in a stable condition and is currently having surgery,” according to her rep, who added that she “luckily did not have her newborn infant with her as they were in the hotel with her family.” The actress’ mother, Patricia Lee, said in an Instagram post Monday, shared alongside a graphic photo of her daughter’s injuries, that Bernans suffered “a few broken bones, fractures, & chipped teeth” and is “still in so much pain and can’t answer calls at this time.”

“Please keep Carrie in your thoughts and prayers. She’s in so much pain but healing,” Lee wrote. “She was involved in a traumatic incident in NYC where a man, early 40s was trying to escape a hit and run and ran into multiple cars before hitting a food stand that her friend & her were walking near. It ended up knocking her unconscious and pended her under the stand. She was under it unaware of what was happening.”

Lee said her daughter is “thanking God that she’s alive…Amidst the chaos of the New Year’s incident, she’s holding onto an immense sense of gratitude for life itself. This setback hasn’t deterred her belief that something remarkable is still being crafted by God. Despite the injuries sustained in the collision caused by a hit-and-run in NYC, she’s filled with hope and faith in the unfolding of a beautiful new chapter.” Lee asked Bernans’ followers to “please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she navigate this path toward recovery and new beginnings.”