New York police officer let go hit and run driver who injured a pedestrian after he flashes a badge

A pedestrian suffered serious injury after being hit by a car in New York City but according to a witness, the driver was let go by the police after he flashed a badge.

On January 11th, 63 year old  Cindy Klump who managed the drawing Center at Pratt Institute, was trying to cross Myrtle Ave at Ryerson Street in Brooklyn, NYC.  As she was crossing, she tripped and fell on the ground. She was getting back when up she was hit in the back by a a light colored minivan.  John Cisneros, a Pratt student who witnessed the accident saw the van driver parking his vehicle 50 feet away and run to rescue the woman. Another woman who also witnessed the accident ran to the rescue. She had medical training and tended to Klump while Cisneros called 911.

The ambulance and the police showed up shortly after. One of the police officers, Officer Orlando Vargas, started to interview the woman who helped Klump. She pointed at the driver who was still around and pointed at his car and told the officer: “that’s the guy who hit her and that’s his car”. The driver denied it and said it was a car before him who struck the woman and ran away. Cisneros said he saw the driver flashing a badge to Officer Vargas. He then kept the badge on a chain around his neck and was let go by Officer Vargas.

The police report later on listed the accident as a hit and run with no description of the vehicle nor the driver. The conversation that officer Vargas had with the the woman who identified the driver was missing from the report as well. Even though there was a traffic camera at the intersection, the police said the footage didn’t show anything useful but they haven’t turned over the video despite several requests from Klump’s lawyer. According to the NYPD an internal investigation is underway.

Read more in the Gothamist

The picture below shows a very poor street design at the intersection of Myrtle and Ryerson Street.
At the time of the picture 3 pedestrians are crossing the road in an area where an additional crosswalk seems to be a necessity