Breaking: Driver Who Killed Baby Apolline Hit With Manslaughter, DA Says
The reckless recidivist driver who cops say slammed into a Brooklyn family, killing a 3-month-old baby, is now facing manslaughter charges that were handed up by a grand jury late Friday, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said.
Tyrik Mott had initially been charged only with a top count for allegedly trying to steal a car to flee the Saturday, Sept. 11 crash in Clinton Hill. But on Friday, a grand jury added the additional charge of second-degree manslaughter.
He’ll be arraigned on those charges next week. Mott apparently remains at Rikers Island, having failed to make bail on the original charges.
The new charges are the latest turn in the case of Tyrik Mott, whose Pennsylvania-registered car has been nabbed 91 times by city speed- and red-light cameras — and Mott himself arrested in February for driving without a valid license — yet was able to keep driving when a judge released on the condition that he stay out of trouble.
But Mott did not stay out of trouble, apparently. He kept driving recklessly, racking up at least 16 camera-issued speeding tickets and five camera-issued red-light tickets since that May dismissal. He also got at least nine non-moving violation tickets for such transgressions as blocking a hydrant or a bus lane — and those tickets are written by humans who also failed to keep Mott off the road. It is unclear whether NYPD traffic enforcement officers have a system in place to catch big fish like Mott when they are writing routine parking tickets.
The de Blasio has been criticized all week for not implementing the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement act, which was signed in early 2020, but not funded until this year. The law requires all drivers who get 15 camera-issued speeding tickets or five red-light tickets to take a defensive driving course or have their car impounded.
But the de Blasio administration did not create the courses or the impound system. More details of the case are here.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
