Driver pleaded guilty after fatal crash during Brooklyn police flight
To Help People
Juan Lopez drove through a red light while fleeing police and crashed into a Honda Pilot at Central and Gates avenues in Brooklyn on May 26, 2024; the official record places the collision at 6:28 a.m. and records one person killed and four injured.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Prosecutors said Lopez drove through a red light while fleeing a police stop and crashed into a Honda Pilot at Central and Gates avenues. Micah Dukes, 29, was ejected from the rear seat, hospitalized and died at NYU Langone Medical Center on June 8, 2024; Lopez pleaded guilty in 2025 to manslaughter, unlawful fleeing and leaving the scene without reporting.
A police stop preceded the collision
Prosecutors said officers tried to stop Lopez for speeding. Manhattan Daily reported that Lopez was driving a black 2018 Mercedes-Benz sedan at about 75 mph near Gates and Wilson avenues, then went west on Gates through a red light and drove head-on into a southbound Honda Pilot at Central Avenue. The report said the Honda's driver had a green light. It identified the Pilot as a 2005 model; the official record classifies the other vehicle in the station wagon/SUV category.
After the collision, Lopez lost control, drove onto the sidewalk and tried to flee on foot before officers arrested him, prosecutors said.
The official record places the crash at 6:28 a.m. on May 26 and records one person killed and four injured. The New York Post placed the crash at about 5:30 a.m.; Manhattan Daily placed the attempted stop at about 5:25 a.m. Manhattan Daily also reported that the Honda's driver and two other passengers were unhurt, while the official record lists four injured people. The Post reported that Lopez was hospitalized in stable condition, so the accounts differ on the injury tally.
A community health career just beginning
Dukes lived in Albany and graduated from Hudson Valley Community College in May 2023 with an Associate of Applied Science in Community Health Navigation. In a college promotional video, she said, "I knew that I wanted to work to help people," and described wanting to serve marginalized communities.
Manhattan Daily reported that Dukes was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, transferred to NYU Langone Medical Center and died there on June 8, 2024. The New York Post's May 28 report said police initially reported she had died in the crash, then corrected her condition to critical.
A witness helped before medics arrived
Corner-store employee Edwin Castro told the New York Post he saw a police car following the Mercedes and helped support Dukes's head with a pillow until medics arrived.
The plea and its expected sentence
In August 2025, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that Lopez pleaded guilty to manslaughter, unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle and leaving the scene without reporting. At the time, prosecutors said he faced four to 12 years in prison and expected sentencing in September 2025.
Prosecutors also said Lopez told officers he had consumed alcohol before driving.
Where
CENTRAL AVENUE and GATES AVENUE