Three People Killed by Motorists in Manhattan and Brooklyn This Weekend

Three people were killed by motorists in separate crashes in Manhattan and Brooklyn over the weekend.

At around 10:00 Sunday morning, Willie Zachary, 65, was struck on St. Nicholas Avenue in the vicinity of W. 131st Street by an alleged drunk and unlicensed driver. According to reports, Prince Julien, 23, was traveling south on St. Nicholas in a Honda Accord when he hit Zachary at a high rate of speed.

From the Post:

The victim’s head smashed the windshield, he was thrown about 60 feet and was declared dead at the scene, according to witnesses.

Onlookers said the driver was going so fast that it took him almost 200 feet to come to a complete stop.

“[The driver] got out of the car and started running toward the man on the ground,” said a security guard at a nearby building.

Julien was charged with second degree manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, and driving without a license, according to court records. The crash occurred in the City Council district represented by Inez Dickens, and in the 32nd Precinct, where as of October local officers had issued 183 speeding tickets in 2013, and 137 summonses for failure to yield to a pedestrian.

Vernon Bramble, 47, was struck by a driver who fled the scene as he crossed Flatbush Avenue at E. 34th Street in Flatlands at approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday, reports said. Bramble suffered head trauma. He was pronounced dead at Beth Israel Medical Center.

“They left him there like he was an animal,” Bramble’s niece, who did not provide her name, told the Daily News. “He was a very simple person who tried his best to be there for his friends and family.”

Bramble was killed in the 63rd Precinct — 63 speeding tickets this year as of October, and 41 summonses for failure to yield — and in the City Council district represented by Jumaane Williams. The driver had not been apprehended as of this morning, according to NYPD.

Two drivers ran over Cheikh Mbaye, 23, as he crossed Canal Street near Greene Street in Soho at 2:30 Friday afternoon.

WCBS reported that Mbaye was crossing Canal from south to north when he was struck by a westbound driver in a Ford Econoline van. The impact threw Mbaye into the middle of the street, where he was hit by the westbound driver of a semi truck. He was pronounced dead at Presbyterian Hospital.

“I saw him every single day over here, this guy,” witness Mohammed Alamgir told NY1. “He quiet. He Muslim guy. He goes to pray, two o’clock, maybe 1:30. He finish, he come over here.”

WNBC emphasized that the deceased victim was “jaywalking,” while failing to question how fast the drivers were going, though vehicle speed was a key factor in whether Mbaye lived or died, and could have affected whether a crash occurred at all.

The NYPD public information office had no details on driver speed, and did not know if either driver was charged or summonsed.

The crash occurred in City Council district represented by Margaret Chin, and the 1st Precinct, where as of October officers had ticketed 65 drivers for speeding in 2013, and 154 for failure to yield to a pedestrian.