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NYPD Arrests Driver Who Fatally Struck 9-Year-Old In Fort Greene
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 3, 2013
Modified Nov 4, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 3, 2013
Modified Nov 4, 2013
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Police have charged the driver of the SUV that struck and killed a 9-year-old boy in Fort Greene yesterday with criminally negligent homicide. Anthony Byrd, 59, allegedly drove his 2000 Ford Expedition against the flow of traffic on DeKalb Avenue and slammed into three different vehicles before jumping the curb and killing Lucian Merryweather.
Merryweather's 5-year-old brother was also injured in the crash, but police say he is in stable condition. Their 48-year-old mother was uninjured, while an unidentified 28-year-old woman suffered a leg injury and is in stable condition. NY1 has video of Byrd's vehicle shortly before the crash.
Byrd remained at the scene of the crash, and investigators told the Times that he did not seem impaired. In addition to criminally negligent homicide, Byrd is charged with assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, reckless driving, driving the wrong way on a one way street, failure to yield, and two counts of operating a motor vehicle on the sidewalk.
Charging a driver at the scene is a relatively rare occurrence for the NYPD's Collision Investigation Unit, which investigates serious or unusual automobile crashes. At a hearing in September, the Commanding Officer of the CIS, Inspector Paul Ciorra, testified, "In the last 10 years, somewhere between 10 to 20% of the cases [investigated by CIS] will get closed to an arrest." Of the 189 auto-related fatalities recorded in 2013 as of September 1, 20 were closed with an arrest.
CIS's methodology is also unique because the unit consults the DA's office at the outset of nearly every investigation to determine whether criminal charges can be brought.
Tagged
pedestrian fatalities
fort greene
88 Precinct
brooklyn
cis
traffic enforcement
pedestrian safety
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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