Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Driver Who Killed Williamsburg Cyclist Says There's No Proof He Was Driving
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
John Del Signore/Gothamist
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The man listed on an NYPD crash report as the truck driver who killed a Williamsburg cyclist has spoken for the first time. We placed multiple calls to the home of Leo Degianni last week after the family of the cyclist, Mathieu Lefevre, released a copy of the accident report. Degianni did not resond, but the Times is finally reporting on the Lefevre family's outrageous treatment by the NYPD, and reporter Jim Dwyer got a quote from Degianni, who left the scene of the accident and was not charged.
Degianni would not confirm that he was behind the wheel, and tells the Times only: "It hasn’t been proven yet. I have no comment." An NYPD spokesperson previously told us that the driver "did not know that he hit" Lefevre, who was struck at the T-intersection of Meserole Street and Morgan Avenue just after midnight on October 19th. Lefevre's family, who live in Canada, say the NYPD has refused to provide them with basic information and won't explain why the driver will not face any charges. In fact, they didn't even know the driver was getting off until they read about it in the press. An NYPD spokesman told Metro at one point, "That's why they call it an accident."
The Times article goes into the galling details of the family's futile attempt to obtain information from New York's Finest:
The 90th Precinct station house proved to be a House of No, as Ms. Lefevre described it: the family was told at the desk that there was no detective available to speak with them, that Mr. Lefevre’s property was not there and that no report on the accident was available.
So they waited. "After some time elapsed, I called the detective at the morgue, who had given us her phone number in case we ran into problems,” Ms. Lefevre said. Eventually, a detective in the 90th Precinct explained that the person handling the investigation of their son’s death would not be back for several days. “The detective we saw said he had no access to the information, that they do not share files,” Ms. Lefevre said.
After four hours, she said, they left.
And after a week of getting blown off by the NYPD, Dwyer reports that the Lefevres were "finally given their son’s belongings. They had been in the station house all along."
Last week, Transportation Alternatives has announced that they are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the NYPD's traffic crash investigation practices. Sadly, it seems there is no shortage of investigations to investigate; Streetsblog reports that a school bus driver was not charged after killing a man in the Bronx last night. The driver's explanation? "I didn’t see him."
Tagged
cycling
mathieu lefevre
nypd
transportation alternatives
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Judge temporarily halts overnight construction at NYC’s Chinatown jail
The order comes after Chinatown residents sued the city over noise, health concerns and years of planned after-hours construction.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 7:08 p.m. ET
Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools
A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools
A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Police search for man in Central Park sexual assault
By
Charles Lane
Rockefeller Center's 2026 Christmas tree is a 76-foot spruce from Upstate New York
By
Giulia Heyward
‘A killer cop lives here’: Brooklyn arrests raise questions about limits of free speech
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .