Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Brownsville

MTA Bus Driver Pleads Guilty in Deadly Brooklyn Hit-and-Run Crash

MTA bus driver Paul Roper pled guilty last week to fatally striking 70-year-old Carol Bell and leaving the scene in Brooklyn in November 2015. Image: WNBC via @BrooklynSpoke

An MTA bus driver who killed a senior in Brooklyn last year pled guilty to leaving the scene and violating the victim's right of way.

[Update: Roper was sentenced to five years probation and fined $2,100 -- $2,000 for leaving the scene and $100 for violating the victim's right of way -- according to court records. The Daily News reported that he was fired from his job driving an MTA bus.]

Paul Roper hit 70-year-old Carol Bell as she crossed Fulton Street at Sackman Street on November 3, 2015. Video showed Roper strike Bell, who was using a walker, while making a left turn. Reports said Roper briefly stopped the out-of-service bus after hitting Bell before driving away.

Investigators tracked the bus to the East New York Bus Depot. Though NYPD declared “no criminality” before locating Roper, police eventually charged him with leaving the scene, failure to yield, and careless driving.

The crash happened soon after City Hall reached a settlement in a suit filed by the Transport Workers Union, which spent much of 2015 trying to gut the Right of Way Law. The settlement served to clarify the law, but the TWU said it was proof that bus drivers were wrongly arrested for killing people who were following traffic rules.

MTA bus drivers killed four pedestrians over the course of November and December of last year, and have killed at least two people walking in 2016.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Trump Culture War Tantrum Turns to Gateway Tunnel and Second Ave. Subway

It's the second time the Trump administration has denied New York transit funding in as many days.

October 1, 2025

West Side Pols Call on Trump Administration to Stop Illegally Blocking 10th Ave. Bike Lane

The DEA blockade of the 10th Avenue bike lane continues, and local politicians are demanding the federal agency stop denying cyclists safety.

October 1, 2025

When the DOT Takes Your Bike: A Cyclist’s Guide to Getting It Back 

A bike commuter's frustrating journey through New York's bureaucratic maze reveals a hidden problem affecting cyclists citywide. 

October 1, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: This is Your DOT on Drugs Edition

Yes, that's our editor consuming drugs in front of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office on 10th Avenue to protest the agency's seizure of the bike lane. Plus other news.

October 1, 2025

BIG ZERO: Trump Stiffs MTA in ‘Sanctuary City’ Tantrum

The federal government is denying the MTA tens of millions of dollars in public safety funding over of New York's immigration policies.

September 30, 2025

Gale’s A-Blowin’: Brewer Abandons Daylighting Bill After Push By Parking-First DOT

DOT's anti-daylighting "scare tactics" have peeled off Council Member Gale Brewer, who says the policy will gobble up too many parking spots.

September 30, 2025
See all posts