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

Unlicensed Driver Pleads Guilty in Brooklyn Hit-and-Run Death

NYPD has a get-out-of-jail-free card for drivers of large trucks who strike and kill people. Image: News 12

A motorist who killed a man in Brooklyn has pled guilty to leaving the scene and driving without a valid license.

Brian Young struck 28-year-old Francis Perez as Perez crossed Avenue V in Sheepshead Bay on the night of September 23, 2016.

Perez
Perez
Perez

Perez had just walked out of a store with snacks for his 8-year-old son when Young rammed him with a Toyota SUV and kept driving.

“The guy flew in the air, and then the [driver]… stopped at that corner and just drove off,” a witness told the Daily News.

Prosecutors charged Young, then 47, with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and third degree aggravated unlicensed operation. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office declined to charge Young for the act of killing Perez.

Under state law the penalty for hit-and-run can be less severe than the penalty for a drunk driver who injures or kills someone and remains at the scene, a statutory flaw Albany legislators have for years failed to fix.

Leaving the scene of a fatal crash is a class D felony with penalties ranging from probation to seven years in prison. Third degree aggravated unlicensed operation is a low-level misdemeanor. Young pled guilty to both charges Wednesday, according to court records.

Young is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Five Ways New NYPD Boss Jessica Tisch Can Fix Our Dangerous Streets

If the Sanitation Commissioner wants to use her new position to make city streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, here's where she can start.

November 21, 2024

What Do the Mayoral Candidates Think Of ‘City of Yes’?

Too bad for Hizzoner that challengers Zellnor Myrie, Brad Lander, Scott Stringer, Jessica Ramos and Zohran Mamdani — all Democrats — aren't on the Council. 

November 21, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: ‘Tisch Gets Wish in Rich Commish Switch’ Edition

We were pleasantly surprised that Mayor Adams chose Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch to give the NYPD a clean sweep. Plus other news.

November 21, 2024

‘Stars On Cars’ Rating System Will Finally Grade How Safe Vehicles Are For People Their Drivers Hit

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally changed the nation's consumer safety rating system for new automobiles to accommodate vulnerable road users.

November 21, 2024
See all posts