Reckless hit and run driver kills pedestrian in Brooklyn, NYC

A pedestrian was killed by a reckless driver in Brooklyn last week. The 53 year old woman was crossing the street in the crosswalk at the intersection of Glenwood Road and 55th Street when she was struck by a car driven by 22 year old Michael Rajpaul.

Rajpaul was chased by another driver who he previously hit

Previous to hitting the pedestrian with his 2008 Hyundai, Rajpaul had a fender bender with a BMW. Instead of staying at the scene of the accident he sped away and the driver of the BMW chased him. As he drove South on 55th in the wrong way and at high speed, he ran a red light and was t-boned by another car driving through the greenlight. His car spun around and he hit a 53 year old pedestrian wo got thrown into a parked car. She was rushed to the hospital but the impact was so intense that she died from her injuries.  None of the drivers were injured.

Rajpaul was charge with reckless driving and manslaughter. At his arraignment, prosecutors requested to  set the bail at $150,000 and requested the surveillance video of the accident. Rajpaul’s attorney was able to lower the bail to $75,000. He had no prior arrest record.

Pedestrian deaths on the rise during the summer and the beginning of the fall

According to the most recent NYPD statistics, 12 pedestrians were killed  in car accidents in New York City last October. From January 1st 2020 to October 31st 77 pedestrians died in NYC traffic accidents compared to 85 for the same period of 2019. While the number of pedestrian deaths in 2020 is so far slightly lower than in 2019,it is important to remember that during the months of March April and May, the city was shut down by the Covid-19 lockdown and pedestrian deaths were significantly lower during this period of time. While looking at pedestrian deaths from the beginning of June to the end of October, 49 pedestrians were killed during this period in 2020 compared  to 42 for the same period in 2019.

Picture of the location of the accident: courtesy of Google

Read more in the NY Daily News