Police charged Jorge Gonzalez-Cadme after a fatal backing crash in Bay Ridge.
Long Enough
Police said Jorge Gonzalez-Cadme was backing east when he allegedly struck 85-year-old Norman Fruchter near 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Brooklyn; the official record places the crash at 10:13 p.m. on December 22, 2022, and records one pedestrian killed.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Brooklyn Paper reported that police said Gonzalez-Cadme was reversing east on 68th Street when he allegedly struck Fruchter as he crossed the street. The official record places the crash at 10:13 p.m. on December 22, 2022, at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace and records one pedestrian killed. Police later charged Gonzalez-Cadme with four offenses. Fruchter, an education reform advocate, died at a hospital on January 4, 2023.
Police said the driver was reversing.
Brooklyn Paper reported that a later investigation found Gonzalez-Cadme was reversing east on 68th Street when he allegedly struck Fruchter as Fruchter crossed from north to south. Streetsblog also reported that police described the driver as reversing the wrong way; a spokeswoman said he may have been backing to park.
The driver remained at the scene and was not injured. Brooklyn Paper reported that officers found Fruchter with head trauma and that emergency responders took him to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn.
The official record gives the crash time as 10:13 p.m. The Brooklyn Eagle reported 10:12 p.m., while Streetsblog placed it at around 10:10 p.m. The official record lists backing unsafely and failure to yield as contributing factors.
The crash happened near Owl's Head Park.
The crash was recorded at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Bay Ridge, just south of Owl's Head Park. Streetsblog reported there was no crosswalk at the location to help pedestrians reach the popular park.
Reports describe different Hyundai models.
Brooklyn Paper identified the driver's car as a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The official record instead lists a 2016 Hyundai sedan; the reported model and year differ.
Police later brought four charges.
Brooklyn Paper reported that police arrested Gonzalez-Cadme, 42, on July 24 and charged him with criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, imprudent speed and unsafe backing. These were charges, not findings of guilt. Streetsblog's earlier report said the driver had not been charged at that time and the investigation was ongoing.
Brooklyn Paper reported that Fruchter died at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn on January 4, 2023, after being taken there following the crash.
Fruchter was remembered for education work.
Family and friends told Brooklyn Paper that Fruchter worked on education reform to help children of all ethnic backgrounds receive a fair public education. NYU Steinhardt's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools called him "a change-making school leader, community organizer, and academic."
Neighbors and community leaders gathered at Owl's Head Park for a vigil in his memory and to advocate for better traffic safety.