Driver indicted after two men killed on Amsterdam Avenue
Jason and Michael
The city crash record lists two pedestrians killed and four people injured at Amsterdam Avenue and West 109th Street on May 15; prosecutors later indicted driver Elvin Suarez on aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
At about 6 p.m. on May 15, police and prosecutors said Elvin Suarez was driving north on Amsterdam Avenue when he struck a parked vehicle, continued through West 109th Street, crossed a median and hit pedestrians before colliding with an occupied parked van. Jason Negron, 46, and Michael Saint-Hilaire, 35, died. The city crash record lists two pedestrians killed, four people injured and alcohol involvement. Initial reports varied on whether five pedestrians were hit; later police and prosecutors described four pedestrians and a man in a parked van among the injured. Suarez was arrested, and prosecutors later announced an indictment on aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges.
Police and prosecutors described a chain-reaction crash
The city crash record places the crash at Amsterdam Avenue and West 109th Street in Manhattan at 6 p.m. and lists two pedestrians killed and four people injured. It records alcohol involvement and a northbound SUV with center-front damage among several vehicles recorded at the scene.
Police and prosecutors said Elvin Suarez, 61, was driving north on Amsterdam Avenue when he struck an unoccupied parked vehicle, continued through the intersection, crossed a median separating the bike lane from traffic and hit pedestrians before colliding with an occupied parked van. Later accounts from police and prosecutors described four pedestrians and a 51-year-old man in the van among the people hurt, while some early reports described five pedestrians.
The corner was a neighborhood gathering place
News accounts placed the crash near Amsterdam Avenue and West 109th Street on the Upper West Side, outside or near a barbershop where neighbors said local men often gathered. ABC7 reported flowers and candles along Amsterdam Avenue by 109th Street and around the corner on 110th Street after the crash.
Jason Negron and Michael Saint-Hilaire were remembered by relatives and neighbors
Police identified the men who died as Jason Negron, 46, and Michael Saint-Hilaire, 35, both of Manhattan. West Side Spirit reported that Negron was a doorman who had worked for two decades at 545 W. 110th St. and that Saint-Hilaire was the father of nearly 2-year-old triplets.
At a memorial, Negron's daughter Naiyah said, "Our entire community was greatly shattered by the loss of him." ABC7 also reported that Saint-Hilaire left behind three young children.
The criminal case centers on intoxication allegations
Police initially charged Suarez with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault and DWI. Prosecutors later said a grand jury indicted him on aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault and additional assault and driving-while-intoxicated charges.
Reports differed on the alcohol-test number: the Daily News cited police saying Suarez scored 0.1 on a breath test, while Gothamist reported prosecutors saying a hospital breathalyzer showed a blood alcohol level of .131. Suarez is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Bystanders tried to help at the scene
Witnesses and neighbors described frantic attempts to help after the crash. The Daily News quoted Louis Lopez saying that about 40 people tried to move the Mercedes off Negron but could not. ABC7 reported that a retired EMT began CPR on an unconscious man while people called 911.