Dem big busted in ‘door and run’
The boss of the Manhattan Democratic Party was busted for allegedly fleeing the scene after opening his car door into the path of a Harlem bicyclist and sending the man flying, The Post has learned.
Keith Wright, 66, chair of the New York County Democratic Committee, was on Fifth Avenue near West 139th Street when he opened the driver’s door of his black BMW at 9:19 p.m. on Aug. 26, causing the rider to smash into the door, a criminal complaint alleges.
The bicyclist tumbled to the ground and sustained “bruising to his ankle and substantial pain,” the court document states.
After a brief exchange with the
man, Wright allegedly sped off without providing his name — but the bicyclist took down his licenseplate number.
Cops tracked down Wright, who served for more than two decades as a state assemblyman from Harlem. Detective Lamount Deaderick phoned him Sept. 8 and asked about the incident, the complaint says.
“I was about to open my car door while he was riding an electric bike,” Wright allegedly said.
“It is his fault for running into my door. I told him to go to the hospital. I did not exchange my information with him. I asked for his information, but he did not give it to me.”
Wright was arraigned on Friday in Manhattan Criminal Court on two counts of leaving the scene of an incident
and released without bail. He’s due back in court on Oct. 10.
Wright’s attorney, Tony Ricco, said that the bicyclist was riding a “speeding motorized e-bike” without a headlight or taillight or horn, and that there was no way for his client to know he was rapidly approaching from behind.
Wright also remained on the scene for 40 to 45 minutes after the accident, Ricco said.
“Witness statements and photos corroborate that Mr. Wright was the victim in this situation,” Ricco said in a statement, without providing the referenced material.
“Dooring,” or opening a car door into moving traffic, is illegal in New York.
Manhattan prosecutor-turnedcriminal-defense
lawyer Daniel Bibb said that under vehicle and traffic laws, a driver must remain on the scene after an accident.
“No matter whether it’s his fault or not, when you come into contact with a pedestrian, bicyclist or another car, you’re required by law to stop,” Bibb told The Post.
He added that a city administrative regulation says just about any contact between a car and a pedestrian or bicyclist is presumed to be the driver’s fault.
Wright survived a 2019 attempt to oust him as the Manhattan Democratic Party boss over his day job as a lobbyist for Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, which watchdog groups
have called a conflict of interest.