Cops Charge the Driver Who Hit and Killed Former Columbia University Professor

Police have arrested the driver who hit and killed former Columbia University professor and dean Peter Awn near the Morningside Heights campus in January — a death that stunned the entire campus community.

Cops cuffed 24-year-old Shiv Kumar, who lives in Queens, on Wednesday afternoon and charged him with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care when he drove his 2015 Toyota Highlander into Awn as the 75-year-old academic crossed Claremont Avenue at W. 116th Street on Jan. 25 at about 6:30 p.m.

Awn suffered severe head trauma and died on Feb. 17. Awn was a beloved figure on the Columbia campus, where he taught for 20 years, most recently as a top dean. He had retired in 2017.

“Since his arrival on the Columbia campus more than four decades ago, no one has been a more beloved member of our community than Peter,” said Columbia University President Lee Bollinger. “The grief we feel at his loss is overwhelming.

Kumar had stayed on the scene of the crash. Neither police nor the Manhattan District Attorney's Office could say why it took two months to charge him.

Kumar faces a maximum of 30 days in jail. Such sentences are rare, although it does happen. In October, a Manhattan judge sentenced the bus driver who killed Citi Bike rider Dan Hanegby to jail for 30 days. He might have avoided jail time if he had pleaded guilty to the charge.