We're not sure why no one covered it, but a drunk, speeding driver who was responsible for a horrific fatal crash on Atlantic Avenue in 2023 was sentenced to three to nine years in prison on Thursday.
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez announced the sentencing after getting a guilty plea from Erick Trujillo, 29, on a manslaughter count back in January.
According to cops, Trujillo was drunk — with twice the legal limit of booze in his blood — and going 72 miles per hour in the 25-mile-per-hour stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights at around 10 p.m. on April 16, 2023. At Clinton Street, he ran a red light and slammed into Katie Harris, 31, killing her on the spot, before striking another car and ending up in a dining shed.
The killing was big, horrifying news when it happened, outraging residents who have long been fed up with speeding. Since then, local pols have successfully gotten the Department of Transportation to make some street safety improvements, but have failed to convince the state legislature to pass a bill by state Sen. Andrew Gournardes to put speed limiters inside the cars of the worst speeding recidivists.
For now, at least, one reckless drunkard is no longer endangering his neighbors.
"This defendant made a disastrous decision when he got behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated," said Gonzalez. "In doing so, he caused an innocent woman to be killed and endangered many others in Brooklyn that night. He has now been held accountable for his criminal conduct."
One down, thousands to go.
In other news:
- Huge hat tip to Times opinion writer John McWhorter for his heartfelt, Hestonian piece, "Trump Can Pry Congestion Pricing From My Cold, Dead Hands." We especially liked the ending: "We need to greet the president and his henchmen with something more visceral than a lawsuit. We need a sustained hue and cry, an implacable gnashing bark. ... Let’s tell Trump we’re not going back to an eternally noisy and smelly gridlock that he doesn’t have to experience." Amen.
- Speaking of congestion pricing, Gov. Hochul revealed that she is trying everything to get President Trump to keep the toll, even appealing to his inherent hatred of New Jersey in his New York blood. (NY Post, NY Post again, NY Times, amNY)
- And, yes, some mistakes get made with the billing... (NY Post)
- ...Though it's no mistake that TLC cars are not being billed ... even when off-duty. (Gothamist)
- Our own Dave Colon was on the War on Cars podcast talking about (what else?) congestion pricing.
- This is why we run the plates of firefighters and cops — they are reckless drivers. (NY Post, Jackson Heights Post)
- Google is going to use cellphone data to track problems on the subway. (amNY)
- Finally, on a personal level — and as a Windsor Terrace resident — I am pleased that the City Council voted to allow more housing to be built in my neighborhood, approving the so-called Arrow Linen project, as News12 reported. Agree or disagree with the vote, but Council Member Shahana Hanif was always straight with her constituents on what her position and her values were.
