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[UPDATE] Driver Who Killed Two Children In Park Slope Charged With Manslaughter
By
Jennifer Vanasco
Published May 3, 2018
Modified May 3, 2018
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Danny Lewis / WNYC
By
Jennifer Vanasco
Published May 3, 2018
Modified May 3, 2018
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[Update below]
The Staten Island woman who killed two children in Park Slope in March when she allegedly drove through a red light has been arrested following an indictment by a Brooklyn grand jury.
The charges against 55-year-old Dorothy Bruns include manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, assault, and disobeying a red light.
On March 5th, two families—Lauren Lew, 34, and her 20-month-old son Joshua, and Ruthie Ann Miles, 34, and her 4-year-old daughter Abigail Blumenstein—were walking on 9th Street near 5th Avenue when investigators say Bruns ran through the red light on 9th Street. Both children were killed. Lew was hurt badly and Miles, a Tony Award-winning actress, was also seriously injured.
The Brooklyn Paper obtained security camera footage of the fatal collision:
Miles was also seven months pregnant at the time, but according to her Twitter feed, her unborn child was unharmed.
According to the Daily News, Bruns, who lives on Staten Island, suffers from multiple sclerosis, and claimed she had a seizure before she ran the light. In January, the Post reports, Bruns went on medical leave from her job. Neighbors told the paper she looked very ill and was slurring her words.
As WNYC reported, Bruns has racked up 12 traffic violations since 2016. They include speeding in a school zone and running red lights. Police took her license the day after the crash.
In March, Mayor Bill de Blasio called for stiffer penalties on careless drivers from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, and a new law that would require doctors, family members and some others to contact the state if they knew of someone whose medical condition could lead to dangerous driving.
"She should never have been allowed to have been driving a car after what we know of these other violations," de Blasio said in March.
Bruns is expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE 3 p.m.: According to WNYC, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez says doctors told Bruns not to drive after she had a seizure behind the wheel in January. At the time, she was hospitalized after crashing her car into a parked vehicle.
Bruns' attorney didn't respond to a request for comment.
Tagged
dorothy bruns
park slope crash
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Jennifer Vanasco
Jennifer Vanasco edits and reports on the arts and the economics of culture for WNYC/Gothamist. Awards include the New York Radio Festivals Silver Award, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Radio Award, the National Headline Club Award and AP's Best Use of Sound. She is an adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University
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