By Kevin Deutsch
[email protected]
The NYPD patrol vehicle that fatally struck a 30-year-old Bronx woman Oct. 5 was speeding down Pelham Parkway at nearly 60 miles per hour when the crash happened, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Wednesday.
“We believe the car was probably going closer to 60 miles per hour at the time of impact,” Shea told NY1. “It’s just — it’s a terrible, terrible incident.”
The crash happened as the department highway cruiser – its lights and sirens activated – responded to a call for officer assistance, striking local resident Sophia Gomez while traveling at roughly twice the 30 mile-per-hour speed limit, authorities said.
The office of state Attorney General Leticia James is probing the vehicular homicide. Her Investigations and Prosecutions Unit will determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
James’ office is vested with broad authority to investigate and prosecute all incidents in which police kill unarmed civilians in New York, including vehicular homicides.