Details Emerge from the Fatal Greenpoint Car Crash

As rumored, the hit and run in Greenpoint yesterday afternoon didn't end well. The woman hit while crossing Manhattan Avenue and India Street was 38-year-old Violetta Krzyzak, who later died at Bellevue Hospital. The Daily News reports that she "landed yards away, near the corner of Huron Street, the same block where she lived with her husband and at least one daughter." One shop owner on the street commented on the impact, saying, "Her handbag was in front of my store and her body was at the end of the block." It was 28-year-old Jose Maldonado who ran a red light in an allegedly stolen minivan and hit Krzyzak. Witnesses say an unmarked police car was tailing the minivan, and while they stopped after the hit and run, Maldonado kept going only to crash into the parked cars. His record includes other arrests for stealing cars and he currently awaits charges while at Woodhull Hospital with a broken toe.

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By Jen Carlson in News on April 28, 2009 9:27 AM

Comments [rss]

edithmassey

it seems like this incident isn't being reported in teh mainstream news.

i am a reliable adult witness, and i know 3 others who are.

it was a high speed chase with no sirens perpetuated by cops

and i don't think it should be covered up.

edithmassey

the cops chased the car thief on manhattan ave from a sparsely populated warehouse district with wide streets up to through the main shopping area, a narrow 2 way street with cars parked on either side. always densely packed with pedestrian and car traffic.

for a few years now the policemen in this area have displayed a bravado that has made me nervous. every police officer involved in the chase must lose his job. they were not chasing a terrorist or a spy threatening to kill the population of ny with special serum, but it seemed that way. they were bouncing off curbs and catching air. it was like the streets of san francisco meets the dukes of hazard and an actual person with children was killed.

blackhole

I agree that these cops need to answer questions about this pursuit. What a shame.

Snoopy

Tailing is hardly a high speed pursuit.

NannyState

Life imprisonment with enhancements for this guy, and really, life sentences for hit and run drivers who kill. Yeah, you pussies out there, tougher sentences for worthless criminals. There's 7 billion people out there, we can lose a few.

soybueno333

Agreed. Please kill yourself.

Steven

Anytime you kill someone you should die.

hotstepper

thanks hammurabi.

Kreo

hmm why no one raises questions about police playing chase on busy local city streets? I know they were probably bored, already ate all donuts they could in a day, and decided to get some action. But giving a chase to a stolen vehicle on city streets is bound to cause tragic accidents.

PD has to regulate steroids intake by their officers.

Jose needs to be used for swine flu cure experiments and then ground alive and fed to swines.

weatherman2012

Worthy questions to be raised for sure. The Gothamist post says an unmarked cop car was "tailing" the stolen vehicle. Does anyone know if the cops were in visible pursuit and that's what lead the driver of the stolen car to run the red light?

FunChop

He should be executed, no trial, no media, no wasted tax dollars. But because he did this in a car he'll probably get a manslaughter charge and be back on the street in five to ten.

Snoopy

Days or weeks?

Clickety-Clickety Clack

Ugh. That is just unbelievably sickening on so many levels. My heart goes out to her family. Just awful.

whitecastlerock

Hospitalized with a broken toe? Who pays for this piece of shit's medical expenses? Break the other nine while he's in there...

ed_Extinct

end his life.

Snoopy

What's with this "Catch and Release" program the correctional facilities run? These jerks are not endangered fish species, they are pond scum. Spread them out on a field and plow them under.