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MAY 26, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
Video evidence reopens case
Cops taking another look into investigation of Clinton Hill hit-and-run
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The police are looking back into an investigation
of a driver who hit a cyclist
on Vanderbilt Avenue and fl ed the scene,
after this paper reported the incident on
May 16.
Cops with the 88th Precinct initially
closed the case of the motorist who sideswiped
Queens resident Jason Gan near
Willoughby Avenue on May 6 without
making arrests, because they didn’t have
the car’s license plates, according to a
spokeswoman for the department — but
decided to give it another look after this
reporter sent the department a fi rst-person
video of the incident that Gan posted
online on the day of the collision.
“I spoke to the commanding offi cer and
was informed the report was closed because
the cyclist was hit by an unknown
vehicle,” Det. Denise Moroney said in an
emailed statement. “I shared the plate
information and the complaint has since
been opened and the squad is looking into
the matter.”
Gan sustained injuries to his arm and
leg after the gold-colored Nissan Altima
with out-of-state plates knocked him off
his bike and sped off.
The 22-year-old told this paper he was
on his way back from running errands in
Gowanus and the driver honked at him
when he swerved to avoid a double-parked
car, just before 5:30 p.m.
“After that I moved all the way over to
the right as close as I could to the parked
cars,” Gan said.
But the driver apparently grew impatient
and sped up, hitting Gan’s handlebar
with his side mirror, knocking him into
the car’s back panel before he hit the asphalt,
according to cyclist.
“All of a sudden I can hear him accelerating
towards me and the minute I see his
front panel, I can tell that he is way closer.
Then his mirror got my handlebar and
back panel hit my body,” he said.
The cyclist believes that the driver intentionally
hit him because the car was
able to pass another biker right behind
him without a problem.
He also said that the driver sped off because
there was a police car about a block
ahead of them.
“There’s a cop car like 50 feet in front
of me — I think that’s why the guy sped off
so fast, because he saw that and reacted to
that,” he said. “It just sucks a lot.”
This is his third time a motorist has
struck Gan and made a run for it, the cyclist
said. The fi rst time, a driver hit him
in East Williamsburg, leaving him with
a concussion last October and he said he
was struck again in Greenpoint in February.
Brooklyn’s streets are proving to be
treacherous for cyclists.
SCRATCHED UP: The cyclist sustained injuries to
his arm and leg after a driver hit him and fl ed the
scene, all of which the victim caught on camera.
YouTube
Since the beginning of 2019, 10 cyclists
died at the hand of drivers, with eight of
the fatal collisions in Brooklyn and three
of those in just the last four days.
Gan was happy to come out of the incident
with just minor injuries and was
thankful for the other cyclists and pedestrians
who stayed on the scene with him
until police arrived.
He was also glad to hear that the department
is reopening his case, but said
he has learned from his previous interactions
with the Boys in Blue that they don’t
take cases seriously where the victims
aren’t severely hurt.
“Unless there’s a serious injury — broken
bones or something like that — the police
treat it as a motor vehicle accident, not
a felony,” he said.
But the department spokeswoman said
that police takes every accident seriously.
“The NYPD takes every accident seriously
and investigates every case with
sensitivity and care,” Moroney said. “We
encourage all people to share information
that could further an investigation.”
Tragedy strikes in Crown Heights
BY COLIN MIXSON
A bicyclist hit by a car
while running a red light
in Crown Heights on May
11 has died, according to
police, who said the cyclist
succumbed to his
wounds at Kings County
Hospital on Tuesday.
Police identifi ed the
deceased biker as Bedford
Stuyvesant resident
Kenichi Nakagawa. He
was 22 years old.
Nakagawa was heading
east on Dean Street
when he attempted to
cross Brooklyn Avenue
against the light at 5:24
p.m., putting himself in
the path of a 2012 Toyota
Sienna operated by
a 66-year-old man, who
collided with the young
cyclist on his way south
along Brooklyn Avenue,
according to police.
Paramedics rushed
Nakagawa to Kings
County Hospital for treatment
of head injuries he
sustained during the collision,
where he died on
May 14, cops said.
The driver crossed
the intersection with a
green light, remained at
the scene following the
collision, and was not arrested,
according to police,
who noted an investigation
being conducted
by the NYPD’s Collision
Investigation Squad remains
ongoing.
Nakagawa was the
ninth bicyclist to perish
as a result of a motor
vehicle collisions in
the city, and one of three
Brooklyn cyclists to die
since Sunday.
A 16-year-old bicyclist
was the 10th bicyclist
killed after a box
truck ran him over May
15 in Borough Park.
TRAGIC: A cyclist struck in
Crown Heights died at Kings
County Hospital on Tuesday.
Getty Images