In what is possibly the most horrifying crash in a year of horrifying crashes, 38-year-old Edwin Cruz-Gomez allegedly purposefully struck and killed 16-year-old Jhoanny Gomez-Alvarez in Jackson Heights after an argument over what some reports said was "lewd" comment the man made about the teenager.
Cruz-Gomez allegedly cat-called Gomez-Alvarez, which sparked "an argument" with her mother and two others in their party, the Daily News reported.
As group walked away, Cruz-Gomez hopped in his car and aimed his Chevy Suburban for the victim and her family, police said. Cruz-Gomez attempted to flee only to be caught "shortly afterward," the Times said. The incident occurred at around 4:15 a.m. The girl's mother, 32, suffered injuries as well.
"He was driving, then he makes a turn and he hits the girl. He did it on purpose," one witness told the Daily News.
Legally speaking, Cruz-Gomez should not have been behind the wheel — he had a suspended license from a drunk driving charge earlier this year, The Post reported — but the law has no teeth when unlicensed drivers can get into any vehicle and harm innocents. And none of the mounds of coverage so far has called attention to his choice of weapon, or how easy it was for him to access it in defiance of the law.
Cruz-Gomez was charged with murder, attempted murder, driving while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of a crash.
In other news:
- Yet another NYPD chase resulted in injuries to an innocent pedestrian bystander. (amNY)
- WNYC/Gothamist rode along with the Bergen Bike Bus.
- New York City is really, really expensive. (Bloomberg)
- Bus-mounted traffic enforcement cameras launch on the Bx20, Bx3, Bx7 and Q6 on Monday with a 60-day grace period. The cameras snap bus lane and bike lane blockers. (Gothamist)
- LIRR strike vote results will be announced on Monday. A strike could start as soon as Thursday. (amNY, Gothamist)
- "Cars are scarier" than mass transit, Kate Aronoff writes. (New Republic)
- Delivery workers rallied against app deactivations and lockouts. (amNY, Streetsblog)
- Related: The City Council is "in the driver's seat" on labor and vendor policies. (Crain's)
- A driver struck and dragged a man to his death as the victim attempted to cross the Belt Parkway on foot, cops said. (Patch)
- RPA ran through all the open lawsuits against congestion pricing.
- The Staten Island Railway is 100 percent brand new R211 cars now. (CBS New York via YouTube, amNY)
- New Yorkers play casino whack-a-mole as eight proposals seek approval at once. (Politics NY, amNY, Brooklyn Paper)
- The Trump administration has found the next big shiny object in transportation: flying cars. (NY Times)
- ... while Sean Duffy has his sights set on the moon. (Space.com)
- An Amtrak-Vornado "pissing match" thwarted the reopening of Tracks at Penn Station. (Crain's)
