The Daily News reports that contradictory surveillance video exists of a 2012 police car crash that killed one man and left another braindead. According to the official report, Ronald Herrera lost control of his dirt bike while trying to pass the cruiser on Walton Avenue in the Bronx. He swerved in front of the car, which struck him and launched him into a double-parked car. The surveillance video, however, purportedly shows the police car ramming the motorcycle during a high-speed chase, which would confirm eyewitness reports. Officers Sabrina Alicea, who was driving, and Walkiria Velez swore under oath that they were not chasing Herrera.
Herrera, who was 20, died a week after the accident from his injuries. His passenger Leonel Cuevas, 17 at the time, was left paralyzed and braindead. Ramming a suspect’s vehicle to stop it is not allowed by the NYPD. Herrera’s family’s attorney says that Herrera was being pursued at high speed for committing a traffic violation, not a felony. Officers Alicea and Velez received a slap on the wrist for “failing to notify the radio dispatcher about the chase and not making make proper entries about the chase in their memo books,” according to the Daily News. Internal Affairs placed the blame squarely on Herrera.
The surveillance footage is not posted with the Daily News‘ story, just the above screenshot from the video.
(Photo: New York Daily News)
