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Unlicensed Driver Who Killed UES Pedestrian Gets $400 Fine, No Jail Time
By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 18, 2014
Modified Dec 18, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 18, 2014
Modified Dec 18, 2014
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An unlicensed driver who struck and killed a woman crossing a street on the Upper East Side is walking away with a $400 slap on the wrist, despite the incident having occurred while she was in the crosswalk.
Back in September, 66-year-old Keiko Ohnishi was walking with the help of a cane across Madison Avenue near East 98th Street when she was struck by 25-year-old Kristin Rodriguez. Rodriguez was attempting to make a lefthand turn in his Town & Country minivan, and apparently failed to see Ohnishi. “[The van] hit her and she [flew] up and back down and he kept on going with her under him,” a witness told the Post at the time. “He was trying to make the light like every New York City driver.”
Ohnishi was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died from her injuries. According to Streetsblog, Rodriguez was summonsed for failure to yield and charged with third degree aggravated unlicensed operation.
The blog reports that Rodriguez was freed Tuesday on $1,000 bond. Under the deal struck with Manhattan DA Cy Vance, he will pay a $400 fine plus an additional $88 in fees.
Streetsblog also adds:
At a Fordham Law School event in November, Vance said he is prevented from prosecuting drivers who kill in cases that “may not have the facts to support a criminal prosecution and conviction.” For this crash and others like it, however, the Vance team clearly had enough evidence to bring a criminal case, yet declined to charge an unlicensed motorist who failed to yield for taking a life.
A spokesman in the Manhattan DA's office declined to comment.
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