Stabbed to death in Bx. restaurant
AN NYPD sergeant was drunk when he flipped his car in a fiery crash that killed his rookie cop passenger, authorities said Friday.
Sgt. Randolph Price is charged with manslaughter in the death of Officer Bianca Bennett, 27, who perished when fast-moving flames consumed Price’s Dodge Charger in the Feb. 1, 2016 crash near City Island.
The two were on their way home after a day at the NYPD firing range when Price, who was speeding, lost control of the muscle car, hit a tree stump and flipped over, sparking a fire.
Price was pulled out of the blaze by a pair of cops who came across the accident on their way home from the range.
Bronx prosecutors indicted Price, 33, on Wednesday for vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving.
Tests taken at the hospital showed that Price’s blood alcohol content was .12 — well over the legal limit of .08, authorities said.
Bennett was on the force just 10 months before her death, the NYPD said.
Relatives said she was two months away from marrying her fiancé Michael Coleman.
Sitting in a wheelchair with extensive injuries to his legs from the crash, Price pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday. He was released on $100,000 bail.
A call to his attorney was not immediately returned.
The Bronx district attorney’s office announced the indictment on Friday — a day after Price was arraigned.
“(Price) allegedly was drinking and got behind the wheel of a car that crashed, flipped over and burst into flames,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clarke said.
“A young officer who was his passenger died at the scene, her promising life cut short.
“This tragedy is all the more senseless because it was avoidable,” she added. A MAN was stabbed to death inside a Bronx restaurant Friday afternoon, police said.
Aaron Roberts, 18, was sitting inside Don Pancholo Restaurant on Jerome Ave., near W. Burnside Ave. in Morris Heights when a 21-year-old man came in and knifed him several times in the back at 3:20 p.m., cops said.
Medics rushed Roberts to St. Barnabas Hospital where he died.
His alleged killer, who was stabbed in the chest during the bloodshed, was taken into custody, police said.
Witnesses said the two men were fighting outside the restaurant moments before the murder.
Jesus De La Cruz, 47, who recognized the men, believed the stabber was getting back at Roberts for taking his gold chain a week earlier.
“He ran in and said, ‘Do you remember me?’ He ran up on him and stabbed him at least seven times. (The victim) fell on the floor, covered in blood,” De La Cruz said.
“It was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
Roberts lived in Brooklyn, police said.