Arrest in fatal hit-&-run
$870G to a city worker in bias suit
Cops have arrested a hit-and-run driver who fatally dragged and ran over a 29-year-old woman with his SUV during his paper route in Chelsea, officials said Wednesday.
Joseph Chery, 61, didn’t stop after he plowed into Maria Christina Villacres as she crossed Seventh Ave. and W. 24th St. just after 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to prosecutors. He was arrested Tuesday and charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
“I feel so thankful to God,” Villacres’ husband, Edwin Chacon, said Wednesday. “So thankful that the person is already detained.”
“I am going to trust God, who will do the justice with that person,” Chacon added.
Villacres was dragged for more than 50 feet before she was shaken loose from the Nissan Pathfinder’s undercarriage, cops said. The SUV’s back wheel ran over Villacres’ head as the driver sped away, according to court records.
First responders found Villacres (inset) unconscious with injuries to her head and body.
Medics rushed her to Bellevue Hospital, but she couldn’t be saved.
A horrified witness ran after the SUV, ordering Chery to stop, but he kept going, ultimately hanging a left at W. 23rd St.
Area surveillance cameras helped police identify the SUV and Chery, who was delivering newspapers to a residential building nearby before the crash.
When cops went to his home in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, detectives found Chery’s Pathfinder
parked on the street.
The SUV “had what appears to be a fresh dent on the hood of the car,” court papers said. “In addition, it appears that a piece of [Villacres’] clothing ripped and attached itself to the car’s back wheel well.”
When questioned, Chery admitted that he was at the scene and identified his SUV as the one caught on camera, according to prosecutors.
He was released from jail Wednesday after making $2,500 bail.
A man at Chery’s home said the deliveryman was sleeping in his room after getting home from jail.
The city has seen at least 126 traffic fatalities during the first seven months of 2020, according to NYPD data. That’s down from 138 deaths during the same period of last year.
The city watchdog needs a watchdog.
A hearing-impaired human resources director at the Department of Investigation has received $870,000 to resolve a discrimination lawsuit claiming he was wrongly demoted.
Richard Natofsky, a career civil servant, said Susan Pogoda, the DOI chief of staff in 2014, “shook her head in disgust and rolled her eyes” when he explained he needed people to face him without covering their mouths when speaking. Pogoda demanded Natofsky talk faster and said he did not speak clearly enough, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Natofsky’s salary was cut from $129,000 to $68,466 in 2014. He left the DOI that year.
The city Law Department said a settlement was in the best interests of both sides.