FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 16, 2021
Brooklyn Man Arraigned on Attempted Murder and Other Charges for
Allegedly Running Over School Bus Driver in Road Rage Incident
Broke Bus Mirrors When His Car Was Blocked Behind it at a Red Light,
Then Mowed Down Driver as She Was Taking Pictures of His Vehicle
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 22-year-old Brooklyn man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with attempted murder, assault, leaving the scene of an incident and other charges in connection with a road rage incident in which he allegedly intentionally ran over a school bus driver, causing serious injuries, and fled.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The alleged actions of this defendant are truly horrifying. He is accused of mowing down an innocent bus driver, striking her on purpose and in cold blood and then fleeing the scene. This type of senseless violence cannot be tolerated, and we will now seek to hold him fully accountable.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Kymani Hardie, 22, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Sciarrino on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and related counts. The defendant is being held on $75,000 bond or $50,000 cash bail and was ordered to return to court on September 16, 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on April 30, 2021, at about 5:15 p.m., near the corner of Linden Boulevard and Hinsdale Street in East New York, the defendant, driving an Infinity sedan, was blocked by a yellow school bus that was empty except for the driver and was standing at a red light. He allegedly became enraged, exited his vehicle and banged on the bus, breaking two mirrors.
The bus driver, a 44-year-old woman, disembarked from the bus and started to record the defendant’s car with her cell phone while standing on the median. The defendant then allegedly ran her over and continued to drive without stopping. The victim suffered a shattered pelvis, broken ribs, a lacerated liver and other injuries.
Video surveillance captured the incident and other videos showed that the defendant, his hand bandaged and driving the same car, checked into a nearby hotel a short time later. DNA recovered from that Infinity and the bus mirror matched the defendant. He was arrested on June 21, 2021.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Evan Hannay of the District Attorney’s Red Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Karla Watson, Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is merely an accusation and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.