Driver Charged in Fatal Brooklyn Bike-Lane Hit-and-Run
Police later arrested Akilo Cadogan after alleging he hit Eugene Schroeder while turning a 2012 Volvo truck and left the scene of a March 9, 2023 crash that the official record says killed one bicyclist at Morgan and Johnson avenues.
What We Know
Police said Eugene Schroeder, 56, was riding south on Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn at about 11:30 p.m. on March 9, 2023, when a driver turned right onto Johnson Avenue and hit him. The official record lists a southbound tractor-truck driver making a right turn and a southbound bicyclist going straight; it records one cyclist killed and no other injuries. Police said the driver left westbound on Johnson Avenue. EMS took Schroeder to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Nearly a year later, police arrested Akilo Cadogan, and court records cited by Gothamist said he was charged with leaving an accident resulting in a death; he pleaded not guilty.
Police described a right-turn crash in a bike lane
Police said Schroeder was riding south in a marked bicycle lane on Morgan Avenue when he stopped near the passenger side of the driver’s truck. Officials said the driver turned right onto Johnson Avenue, hit Schroeder and continued west without stopping.
The official record also lists a southbound tractor-truck driver making a right turn and a southbound bicyclist going straight ahead. It records one cyclist killed and no other injuries.
Morgan and Johnson avenues sit on a contested neighborhood edge
The crash was recorded at Morgan Avenue and Johnson Avenue in Brooklyn. amNY placed the corner in East Williamsburg, while Gothamist described it as Bushwick.
amNY reported that NYC Crash Mapper showed two crashes at the intersection in 2022 that injured four motorists.
Eugene Schroeder was taken to Elmhurst Hospital
Police found Schroeder near a fallen bicycle in the crosswalk with severe head trauma, according to amNY. EMS took him to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Gothamist identified Schroeder as a Brooklyn resident and DJ who worked late nights at Hell’s Kitchen clubs. His husband, John Rappaport, told Gothamist he wanted justice and remembered Schroeder as “the most special person in the whole world.”
An arrest came nearly a year later
Gothamist reported that police arrested Akilo Cadogan, 34, in February 2024. Court records cited by Gothamist said he was charged with leaving an accident resulting in a death, and he pleaded not guilty.
A city Department of Transportation spokesperson told Gothamist that Cadogan was a former seasonal DOT employee and was not actively employed by the agency at the time of the crash.