Police accounts differ after a fatal crash in the Bronx.
Police accounts differed over whether another driver hit or cut off an NYPD cruiser before it went onto the sidewalk at Westchester Avenue and Hoe Avenue; the official record counts one pedestrian killed and eight injured in the Oct. 6, 2022, 3 p.m. crash.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
The Bronx Times reported that another driver hit the NYPD vehicle and the police driver lost control; News 12 attributed a different account to the NYPD, saying another driver cut off the cruiser before it went onto the sidewalk. The official record counts one pedestrian killed and eight people injured. The Bronx Times reported that 65-year-old Milagros Bonet was taken to Lincoln after the crash and pronounced dead on May 4, 2023.
Police accounts differed on the sequence.
The Bronx Times reported that officers were responding to an auto-larceny assignment when another driver hit a marked NYPD Ford Explorer occupied by two male officers. According to the police account cited by the paper, the police driver lost control and pedestrians were hit after the NYPD vehicle mounted the northeast-corner sidewalk.
News 12 reported that the NYPD's earlier account said another driver cut off the cruiser before it went onto the sidewalk.
The official record counts one pedestrian killed and eight people injured: four pedestrians and four motorists. The Bronx Times, citing an initial CBS report, said 10 people total were victims, including two children. News 12 reported one death and at least 10 injuries.
The crash happened at a Longwood intersection.
The official record places the collision at Westchester Avenue and Hoe Avenue in the Bronx at 3 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2022. The Bronx Times identified the area as Longwood and reported that the police vehicle went onto the sidewalk at the northeast corner. The paper also reported, citing police, that Bonet lived one stoplight north of the intersection.
Milagros Bonet was 65.
The official record identifies the person killed as a 65-year-old woman pedestrian. News 12 identified her as Milagros Bonet; the Bronx Times described her as a Bronx resident.
Reports describe the police vehicle differently.
The official record lists a 2017 Ford classified as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle and a 2007 Acura sedan. The Bronx Times identifies the police vehicle as a marked Ford Explorer, while News 12 calls it a cruiser; the sources do not resolve the Ford's subtype.
Bonet's family sought answers.
The Bronx Times reported that Bonet was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals Lincoln after the crash and pronounced dead on May 4, 2023. News 12 reported that family members said she died from crash-related injuries months later.
Bonet's daughter, Marisol Diaz, told News 12 that her niece was injured and her sister was left in a wheelchair. Family members gathered in Longwood for the first anniversary. Family attorney John Coyle said they were seeking answers and NYPD accountability; News 12 said the department could not comment on pending litigation.