Teen Driver Charged After Passenger Dies in Crown Heights Crash
An 18-year-old rear passenger died and four motorists were injured at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Avenue; police told reporters that driver Ackeem Chambers had fled a car stop and was later charged.
What We Know
An 18-year-old rear passenger, identified in press reports as Jada Rollins, died after a crash at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Avenue in Crown Heights. Police told reporters that Ackeem Chambers, 18, was driving a 2015 Hyundai Sonata west on Eastern Parkway after fleeing a car stop when he hit a 2007 Toyota Solara headed north on Rogers Avenue. The official record lists one motorist killed, four motorists injured and unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Police said Chambers was charged with vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and traffic-signal offenses; the Daily News reported that police said officers did not pursue him after he pulled away.
Police said a car stop came before the impact
Police told reporters that Ackeem Chambers, 18, was driving a 2015 Hyundai Sonata west on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights after fleeing a car stop when he hit a 2007 Toyota Solara headed north on Rogers Avenue around 2 a.m.
The official crash record places the crash at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Avenue at 2:09 a.m. and records two sedans involved, with the westbound Hyundai and northbound Toyota both going straight ahead before impact.
Jada Rollins died; four other people were injured
The official record identifies the person killed as an 18-year-old female rear passenger. Press reports identified her as Jada Rollins and said she was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Two 19-year-old male passengers in the Hyundai were taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition, police told reporters. The 61-year-old woman driving the Toyota was also taken there in stable condition. Early reports said Chambers was hospitalized after the crash.
Speed and signals were central in the record and the charges
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor for the crash and lists unsafe speed and traffic-control disregard for the westbound Hyundai.
The Daily News reported that police said officers tried to stop Chambers for going through a traffic signal, and that he hit the gas and sped off before the crash. The paper also reported that an NYPD spokesman said officers did not pursue him after he pulled away.
Chambers was charged as police investigated
The NYPD's Highway Patrol Collision Investigation Squad was investigating, according to the New York Post.
Eastern Parkway has seen repeated harm since this crash
The crash happened at Eastern Parkway and Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn. CrashCountNYC's location context identifies the broader Eastern Parkway corridor in Brooklyn as having 2,111 crashes, 1,422 injuries, 85 serious injuries and 7 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.