Was the chase worth it?
A hit-and-run pickup truck driver fatally struck a cyclist in Astoria late on Tuesday night in rapid flight from an NYPD officer attempting to pull him over for a burglary — the latest death connected to the sharp rise in police chases since Mayor Adams took office.
The speeding driver was headed eastbound on 34th Avenue, attempting to evade the police who were on his tail in relation to a burglary nearby, according to police. An NYPD spokesperson said that the pickup truck had obscured plates and its driver struck two police vehicles when he started his flight away from cops.
After fatally striking the woman, later identified as Amanda Servedio, 36, he kept on driving. Meanwhile, EMTs took Servedio to Elmhurst Hospital, where she died.
A graphic surveillance camera video of the crash shows Servedio riding on 37th Avenue when she is brutally hit by the fleeing vehicle — and a police car comes into the frame split-seconds later.
The NYPD said there were three “unknown males” in the black Dodge Ram, which was later ditched and recovered. No arrests have been made, but detectives on the scene said they are pursuing a suspect. The truck's plate was later found, and its plate has been associated 80 camera-issued speeding or red-light tickets since mid-2022. But that level of recklessness did not lead to a driver's license suspension because camera-issued tickets do not count on a driver's record.
And a city program that allowed the Department of Transportation to order reckless drivers to a safety course expired last year and was not reauthorized. This car's owner was never ordered to attend the course, though he or she was eligible for it, records show.
The cyclist's death is already sparking an outcry from residents questioning why cops chose to engage in a reckless car chase which ended in senseless road violence and loss of life.
“Conducting these high-speed vehicle pursuits in these residential areas is just a recipe for disaster. It endangers everyone on the road and this is not the first time it’s happened,” said Chong Bretillon, a nearby resident and cycling advocate. “The fact that it ended up with someone losing their life, you have to weigh the risks, and this was just risky regardless of what even happened before the chase.
"And you read that it was a burglary, it’s even more enraging. Was it worth it?”
Residents of Astoria have repeatedly begged the 114th Precinct to reduce its reliance on high-speed chases. As recently as September, community members at a precinct council meeting raised the issue, but an official with the precinct, who identified herself as Captain Walls and said she was the new traffic safety officer, "emphasized that the policy is to only chase when the individual poses a greater threat to public safety than the chase would, and said she insists on terminating chases that turn out to be unnecessary."
The NYPD has drastically increased its chases citywide in over the past two years, endangering countless lives with a proven dangerous practice.
On social media, people claimed to have seen 10-15 cop cars chasing the one vehicle, speeding through the streets of Astoria. Earlier this year, another police chase in the same precinct resulted in the serious injury of a cyclist.
“I am horrified,” said Bretillon. "I think the 114th Precinct needs to be held accountable for their decisions to send multiple police cars after one Dodge Ram, they need to take accountability for this. It is completely unacceptable to use our streets as the Wild West."
Servedio was apparently on her way home from a meeting of the social group, Bike and Brew, and was riding with friends before she peeled off to make the final approach to home. A picture of her minutes before her death was posted by Matt Johnson on Strava:
Ironically, the same precinct put out a tweet last week urging drivers to slow down. Click here to see it.
Activists were also angered.
"Driving any vehicle at high speed puts everyone on the street at risk, and police chases are no exception," said Elizabeth Adams of Transportation Alternatives. "The police regularly put New Yorkers at risk with these deadly, unnecessary chases. This is the third New Yorker killed by a police chase this year alone. It’s time for the city to ban police chases in writing and in practice – maintaining the status quo will kill more of our neighbors. We need top leadership at the NYPD to commit to ending police chases now.”
Here's the record on the car:
— with reporting by Gersh Kuntzman
