A woman crossing the street early Sunday morning was killed when a drunk driver barreled down Bowery near East 4th Street. Twenty-four-year-old Julia Thomson had gotten out of a cab with friends around 4AM when a black Mercedes hit her without stopping. The police found the car in Queens hours later and arrested 21-year-old Tenzing Bhutai for leaving the scene of an accident and DWI.
Witnesses say Bhutai's car was going at least 50 MPH (one said it was as fast as 90-100 MPH). When the car hit Thomson, the Daily News says the side mirror was knocked off and WABC showed the damaged windshield. Thomson suffered massive head injuries and was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's. A witness said, "He was speeding...I am so mad, what I see, nobody can see that." When the Daily News caught up with a man who said he was Bhutai's father. He said, "I hope it doesn't happen to any other family, what happened to us. It was unexpected."
Thomson was visiting the city from Scotland and had been staying in a long term apartment in the East Village. A friend told the News, "She was just a lovely girl whose life was taken away by someone with no regard for anyone except himself."
