Witness' Photo Leads Police To Alleged Driver In Lower East Side Hit-And-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police this week caught up with a driver who allegedly struck and injured a man on the Lower East Side, after a witness snapped a photo of the driver and provided it to officers.
Around 7 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to Hester Street and the Bowery for the accident. The 63-year-old victim had suffered injuries to his head and hands, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital, police said.
The victim was unresponsive at the hospital and remained in critical condition Saturday.
Police learned the man had been struck by a red 2014 Infiniti Q50, which had been headed west on Hester Street and made a left turn onto the Bowery when it struck the man in the crosswalk.
Police said the driver, a woman, got out of the vehicle to assess the scene, but then got back in and drove away. But a witness took a photo of the woman standing next to her car, which he gave to the officers at the scene, police said.
The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was called to the scene, and learned the driver had fled to Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge. The driver had gone on to get a parking ticket at St. John's Place and Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, police said.
Police searched the area for the car, and found a man driving it. The man – Tyrone Morant, 23, of Brooklyn – was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and being an unlicensed operator.
Police later caught up to the driver who allegedly struck the man. Shenequa Gayle, 20, of Brooklyn, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and being an unlicensed operator.
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