Video evidence reopens case
Cops taking another look into investigation of Clinton Hill hit-and-run
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
Tragedy strikes in Crown Heights
COURIER L M BR B G IFE, MAY 24–30, 2019 3
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 goldcolored
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.
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.”
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-yearold
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