FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Driver Sentenced up to 7 Years in Prison for Recklessly
Killing Pedestrian during High-Speed Police Chase
Caused Two-Car Wreck, Three Passengers Injured
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a Crown Heights man has been sentenced to 2 1/3 to seven years in prison for the death a pedestrian who was killed when the defendant led police officers on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood.
District Attorney Thompson said, “Instead of pulling over his car, this defendant foolishly decided to flee law enforcement and recklessly speed through red lights, which led to the death of an innocent young man. This tragedy was completely avoidable and the defendant will now spend years in prison, where, undoubtedly, he will think about that fact.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Raymond Ramos, 19, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Martin Murphy to an indeterminate term of 2 1/3 to seven years in prison following his guilty plea on May 31, 2016 to second-degree manslaughter.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, at approximately 11:55 p.m., on March 8, 2015, in the vicinity of Sterling Avenue and Schenectady Avenue in Crown Heights, the defendant was behind the wheel of a 2014 Volkswagen with the windows down. New York City Police Department Officers passing in an unmarked police vehicle noticed an odor of marijuana, activated their sirens and attempted to stop the defendant’s vehicle. The defendant refused to stop and instead accelerated and fled from the officers.
The defendant continued driving at an excessive rate of speed and ran through two steady red lights before striking another vehicle—a 2012 Nissan Rouge— at the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Saint Johns Place. The impact of the crash caused the defendant to hit a pedestrian, 21-year-old Dave Jones, before striking a nearby bus shelter and a telephone pole, according to the investigation.
The victim was pronounced dead on March 9, 2015 at Kings County Hospital. He died as a result of the injuries sustained in the car crash. There were two passengers in the defendant’s vehicle and one passenger in the Nissan Rouge. All three passengers suffered injuries.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Craig Essewin, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Vehicular Crimes Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gayle Dampf, Bureau Chief.
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