Streetsblog New York City

A Queens senior struck by an alleged drunk driver last week was at least the fourth person to die in traffic in Eric Ulrich’s City Council district in the last six months.

John Eberling. Photo via Daily News

John Eberling, 76, was crossing Jamaica Avenue at 80th Street at approximately 4:30 on the afternoon of February 27 when he was struck by an SUV driven by Viveshdyal Thakoordyal, according to reports.

Eberling, a retired warehouse manager, was declared dead on arrival at Jamaica Hospital.

“He was the sweetest man you could ever know,” said Eberling’s niece, Diana Freeman, to the Daily News. “When my father died, he stepped in and became my surrogate father. He gave me away at my wedding.”

Thakoordyal, 45, was charged with first degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, according to online court records.

Though Eberling’s alleged killer was arrested and charged, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has a history of granting favorable deals in DWI death cases.

Last December, Demitrios Matsoukatidis received probation for killing Ditmars senior Lizardo Aldama. Brown’s office reported that Matsoukatidis had a blood alcohol content of .16, twice the legal limit for driving. He was charged with second degree manslaughter and DWI.

One year ago, Kent Lowrie pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received five years probation, a $1,000 fine, and a six-month license revocation for the death of 6-year-old Zhaneya Butcher in Jamaica. According to reports, Brown’s office feared Lowrie was not drunk enough to get a manslaughter conviction.

This fatal crash occurred in the 102nd Precinct. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to Captain Henry Sautner, the commanding officer, go to the next precinct community council meeting. The 102nd Precinct council meetings happen at 7:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at Richmond Hill Library, 118-14 Hillside Ave. Call 718-805-3215 for information.

The City Council district where John Eberling was killed is represented by Eric Ulrich, known among other things for telling New Yorkers concerned about traffic killings to “get a life.” Since last September, at least three other people have lost their lives to motorists in Ulrich’s district: Francisco Camacho, age 59; Ramon Russel, 37; and Sheena Mathew; 38. To encourage Ulrich to take action to improve street safety in his district and citywide, contact him at 212-788-7069, eulrich@council.nyc.gov or @eric_ulrich.

A drunk driver who killed a Queens cyclist will be free to drive again in fewer than six years, under the terms of a plea agreement from District Attorney Richard Brown.

Alex Batista was charged with second degree manslaughter, driving under the influence and leaving the scene after he ran down Roger Hernandez on Greenpoint Avenue on the night of July 18, 2012. Brown told the Sunnyside Post that Batista was driving “at a high rate of speed” when he overtook Hernandez, bouncing the victim off the windshield of his car and nearly striking several pedestrians. Police found Batista laying on a sidewalk after he crashed into a building 10 blocks away. He was also charged with disorderly conduct for being uncooperative and approaching an officer “in a threatening manner.”

Hernandez, a 37-year-old handyman who was reportedly carrying a bouquet of flowers on his bike, died at the scene.

Said Brown, last July: ”This defendant’s decision to get behind the wheel of a car while allegedly intoxicated is incomprehensible and cost an innocent young man his life. Drinking and driving is never a good idea — and all too often has deadly consequences.”

Batista could have gotten up to 15 years in jail on the manslaughter charge. On Monday he pled guilty to a top charge of assault — a D felony, the second-least severe felony category — and misdemeanor DWI, according to court records. Batista will be sentenced to five years in prison. He will not be eligible for parole, according to a spokesperson for Brown’s office.

It would be reasonable to assume that, at the very least, a motorist who commits such a wanton act of deadly violence would forfeit his driving privileges for life. But according to the Post, Batista’s license will be suspended for just six months upon the completion of his jail sentence. After three years, he will be permitted to drive without an ignition interlock device.

Alex Batista is but the latest killer motorist to benefit from the largesse of DA Brown and New York’s forgiving traffic justice system.

In another deal brokered by Brown’s office, Kent Lowrie pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received five years probation, a $1,000 fine, and a six-month license revocation for hitting 6-year-old Zhaneya Butcher in Jamaica. According to reports, prosecutors feared Lowrie was not drunk enough to get a manslaughter conviction.

Last December, Demitrios Matsoukatidis received probation for killing Ditmars senior Lizardo Aldama. Brown’s office reported that Matsoukatidis had a blood alcohol content of .16, twice the legal limit for driving. Like Batista, he was charged with second degree manslaughter and DWI. Our query to Brown’s office concerning the Matsoukatidis plea bargain was not returned.

Maria Beria, Aileen Martinez, Sheena Mathew, Ronald Sinvil, Miguel Torres

In separate crashes in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, city motorists killed five pedestrians between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Four of the crashes, which took the lives of a child and three young mothers, were hit-and-runs.

At approximately 8:45 a.m. on December 28, 11-year-old Miguel Torres of Jackson Heights was crossing at Northern Boulevard and 80th Street, in the crosswalk and with the light, when he was hit by the driver of a dump truck.

Miguel was on his way to participate in a school field trip to Grand Central Terminal when he was killed. Olga Gonzalez, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash, told the Post: “It was so bad, when the ambulance guy came, he was crying … The car hit [Miguel] so hard his shoes came off. I just saw a little kid in the middle of the street, and I just started crying.”

The driver, who did not stop, was later located by police. To the dismay of Miguel’s grieving family, no criminal charges were filed. From DNAinfo:

“They’re just giving him summonses,” [Miguel's aunt Yolanda] Ardezzone said. “I think he should get more than summonses — jail time, so this won’t happen to another child.”

A spokeswoman for the NYPD said that although the police originally stated the child was involved in a hit-and-run, police were actually able to track down the driver at the scene.

“It appeared the driver was unaware they struck someone,” said the spokeswoman. No criminal charges had been filed by Sunday, but she said the case was still under investigation.

In New York State, a driver must know or have reason to know that he or she has caused injury in order to be charged for leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Even when police and prosecutors muster the will to bring charges — no sure thing by any means — an admission that the motorist “didn’t see” the victim serves as a reliable defense. From the Daily News:

A few hours after the incident, police found the driver of the 1988 truck in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He told police he didn’t know he had hit someone, tested negative for alcohol and had a valid driver’s license. Police said no criminal charges will be filed.

No charges, though according to the same Daily News story: “A police source said the truck’s rear wheels struck the boy, though a second source said the boy may have first been struck from the front end of the truck.”

If Queens District Attorney Richard Brown does indeed pursue a criminal case against Miguel Torres’s killer, it is a virtual lock that leaving the scene would be the top charge. Minus evidence of intoxication, a city motorist who kills a pedestrian or cyclist is practically guaranteed to escape charges for taking a life.

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A motorist charged with driving drunk and killing an elderly man in Queens will get probation thanks to a plea deal with the office of District Attorney Richard Brown, according to the New York Post.

According to reports, Lizardo Aldama is one of many New Yorkers whose killers have benefited from the state's farcical traffic justice system. Photo: Times Ledger

Lizardo Aldama, 89, was a fixture in the Ditmars section of Astoria. He was taking a walk one evening last February when he was struck by Demitrios Matsoukatidis, in a crosswalk, at the intersection of 31st Street and 21st Avenue, a block from his home. Wrote the Times Ledger:

Several neighbors said that after Aldama was hit, he was dragged by the black Mercedes SUV.

“People had to scream at him [the driver] to get off of him,” said Patricia Kazakos, 50, who lives in the same building as Aldama and said she arrived at the corner after the accident.

“When I saw the cane, I knew it was him,” Kazakos said of her neighbor.

Aldama suffered a head injury and died at a nearby hospital. He had lived in Astoria for over 50 years, having fled his native Cuba by boat in 1959.

“He was very independent and he was determined to stay [in the city],” said Aldama’s daughter, Maite Aldama-Foertsch, of Massapequa, to the Post. “He didn’t like the suburbs. When he would stay with me for a visit, he’d say, ‘Nothing to see, nothing to do.’”

Brown’s office reported that Matsoukatidis, 67, also of Astoria, showed signs of intoxication at the scene and had a blood alcohol content of .16, twice the legal limit for driving. He was charged with second degree manslaughter and DWI.

Vehicular manslaughter in the second degree is a Class D “non-violent” felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison, though jail time is not mandatory. Matsoukatidis’s next court date is in March, according to Brown’s office.

Matsoukatidis pleaded guilty to manslaughter on December 7, court records say. A Brown spokesperson could not confirm the terms of the plea as reported by the Post, or tell us if the case against Matsoukatidis was somehow compromised, resulting in a penalty that barely rates as a slap on the wrist. Instead, the spokesperson referred us to Brown’s director of communications, who at this writing had not responded to an email query.

According to the Post, Matsoukatidis will be given five years probation and 20 days of community service, and must attend DWI and victim impact programs. He apparently will retain his driving privileges, as the plea reportedly requires him to install an ignition interlock.

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