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Internal Affairs Investigates Fatal Crash Involving Dirt Bike Riders And Squad Car
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 10, 2012
Modified Dec 10, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 10, 2012
Modified Dec 10, 2012
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On October 27th Ronald Herrera, 20, was killed in a mysterious accident involving an NYPD squad car in the Bronx. Herrera's passenger, Leonel Cuevas, 17, was also paralyzed in the crash, which the officer behind the wheel claims was caused when Herrera recklessly “attempted to overtake” her vehicle. According to the official police report, the bike then hit a double-parked car as the cop crashed into a second parked car. But one witness describes a very different scenario.
“They hit the dirt bike from behind, the bike twisted and Leonel flew off,” the witness, who was riding another off-road motorcycle at the time, tells the Daily News. "It (the bike) went down and Ronald was still holding on. It started throwing sparks. The police car completely ran over him. They really didn’t have to crash him off the bike."
The NYPD claims that the driver of the squad car, Officer Sabrina Alicea, was not pursuing Herrera in the moments before the fatal crash. But witnesses say the cop cars lights were flashing. “The question is, did the officer operating the police vehicle use it as a deadly weapon?” asks attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who has been retained by the Cuevas family. For the record, the NYPD Patrol Guide explicitly prohibits "ramming" another vehicle in an attempt to stop it.
Herrera's death came less than three months after an NYPD squad car driver fatally struck another dirt bike rider in the Bronx. Video of that incident's aftermath was obtained by the NY Post:
Tagged
bronx
dirt bikes
internal affairs
nypd
the bronx
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.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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