The cabbie who hit and killed a 9-year-old boy crossing the street near his Upper West Side home earlier this year faces charges in the child's death, according to a criminal complaint.
Koffi Komlani was arrested Oct. 7 on charges alleging he didn't exercise due care when making the left turn from West 97th Street onto West End Avenue and hit Cooper Stock and his 51-year-old father on Jan. 10, according to the complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Stock and his father were crossing West End Avenue when they were hit by the cab. The boy's head and body had been run over by two of the taxi's tires, the complaint alleges, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy's father, Richard, had an leg injury from the impact.
The driver was initially ticketed for failure to yield to a pedestrian and the NYPD ruled the crash an accident.
According to the criminal complaint, Komlani told the police officer who responded to the scene, "I came down West 97th Street. I stopped at the red light. The light turned green and the car immediately in front of me turned left. I followed that car making a left behind that car. Suddenly I heard a boom. I never saw anyone. I accelerated to the left and stopped my car. When I got out of the car, someone said to me, ‘you just killed a kid.’"
Komlani was released on his own recognizance at an arraignment, but a judge ordered that his license be suspended until after his case goes to trial, the DA's office said.
Komlani's attorney said his client "feels awful."
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If convicted, Komlani faces up to 15 days in jail and a $750 fine with a license suspension.
