Queens Student Killed On Bicycle In Alleged Hit-And-Run

Suspect Michael Tarduno, Jr.

A Stony Brook University senior was hit and killed yesterday by a pickup truck and its driver is accused of leaving the scene. 23-year-old Seong Hoon Baek was heading back home from Best Buy when a Ford-350 struck him on Route 347 near Pond Path at around 9:45 p.m. According to police, 30-year-old Michael Tarduno, Jr. was driving the vehicle, and fled the scene. Witnesses gave authorities his license plate number, and he was arrested later that evening. According to the Post, police allegedly found drugs in Tarduno's truck, and he's charged with leaving the scene of an accident and possession.

Baek's family was told of his death at 3 a.m. this morning, and his father tells the paper that his mother and 18-year-old sister are devastated. Stony Brook's president Samuel Stanley, Jr. said that Baek was "well known and highly regarded by faculty, classmates and friends." He continued, "It is deeply troubling to lose a student, especially in such a senseless manner."

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By Christopher Robbins in News on November 19, 2011 10:30 AM

Comments [rss]

Opus the Poet

How could anyone be so unkind

as to arrest a man for driving while blind?

Erik Pedersen

holy crap! they're actually bringing charges against the driver this time? I wonder if he'd have gotten off scot free if they didn't find drugs in his truck... something tells me he would have.

Adam Moreira

Leaving the scene of a fatal accident before police get there, however, is a crime in itself. The drugs would have been a separate issue.

grandeur1

I found out that new York is a no fault state. Meaning you can't legally bring charges against the driver if he "didn't see" the cyclist.

What this means is we have to change the law

m015094

That's not true. You just need witnesses/proof. My friend was hit by a car and it was recorded a video surveillance intersection camera. The driver was charged will "failure to yield."

m015094

That sucks.

Question I always have about bicyclist/car incidents:

1. Was either party intoxicated?
2. Did the bicyclist have lights (it was night)?

luke_1

Questions I always have in response: why is the party in the multi-ton vehicle not automatically at fault unless the cyclist was literally trying to commit suicide by riding out in front of them? It is time to join the civilized world and make that shit automatically cost you your right to drive.

m015094

That is over simplifying things. I am a cyclist and I know that cars do a lot of stupid shit and often claim that they didn't see a cyclist when they nearly hit them or actually do.

However, I've also seen cyclists do a lot of stupid shit as well, like blowing through red lights at intersections. I saw this recently happen in the UWS were the cyclists (weekend warrior type) blew threw a light and almost got hit by a car, He then proceeded to flip the driver off. What?!? The cyclist was at fault.

I've also see a few people riding around my neighborhood in Harlem at night without lights. Are they that stupid? This isn't the suburbs. Do they want to get hit by someone who doesn't see them?