Drunk Driver Kills Pedestrian Waiting for a Bronx Bus: Cops
A reckless drunk driver on a badly designed road hit two pedestrians, killing one, on a Bronx street on Sunday, cops revealed on Wednesday.
Police say Francisco Rosario, 29, was drunk or high at around 9:20 p.m. on Sunday when he "swerved" on Jerome Avenue, mounted the curb, and struck two pedestrians waiting at the corner of Bainbridge Avenue for a bus. One of the pedestrians, Natasha Mar, 33 of Brooklyn, died the next day at St. Barnabas Hospital. The other pedestrian is in stable condition.
Rosario, who lives nearby, was charged with assault, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, failure to obey traffic device, driving while ability impaired and for refusal to take a breath test, cops said.
The bus stop in question, near the MTA's Woodlawn station, offers no protection for long-suffering transit riders, who gather in an open plaza. Motorists often speed down Jerome Avenue and there have been prior crashes as drivers miscalculate the left turn onto Bainbridge.
Last year alone, there were 32 crashes at that one corner, injuring 10 people.
The charges against Rosario stand in stark contrast to the lack of charges against the driver who, cops said, ran a red light and killed cyclist Jose Alzorriz on Coney Island Avenue on Sunday. That investigation in ongoing, but video of the crash shows recklessness and failure to obey a traffic control device, too — yet there have been no charges.
The fatal crash in the Bronx comes one week after another Bronx pedestrian was killed on the Grand Concourse, as Gothamist reported. Pedestrian deaths, cyclists deaths and, in fact, all road deaths, are up by double-digit percentages this year.
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