What to Know
- A 38-year-old woman has been indicted in connection with two pedestrian strikes in the span of three months, one of them fatal
- Both SUV crashes happened in Manhattan; on July 19, she allegedly ran a red light and hit two people in the crosswalk, killing one of them
- Less than three months earlier, on May 21, she blew a stop sign and ran over another pedestrian's foot, prosecutors say
A 38-year-old woman has been indicted on manslaughter and charges for allegedly striking two pedestrians on the Upper West Side, killing one of them, and running over another pedestrian's foot in the same in the same borough less than three months earlier.
Jessenia Fajardo ran a red light on West End Avenue, near West 98th Street, in the middle of the afternoon July 19 and smashed into 62-year-old Alfred Pocari and another pedestrian with her SUV on West End Avenue, prosecutors say.
Pocari died; the second victim was seriously hurt. Both victims had been in the crosswalk when they were hit.
About three months prior, on May 21, prosecutors say Fajardo drove through a stop sign near Desbrosses and Washington streets and ran over a pedestrian's foot around 6:45 a.m. That pedestrian had been in the crosswalk, too.
Authorities say Fajardo briefly stopped and got out of her SUV in that case, but fled the scene without providing any identifying information when the pedestrian said he was going to call 911.
Aside from manslaughter charges, the Walden woman is accused of assault, leaving the scene of an incident with personal injury and failure to show documents and not adhering to the right of way of pedestrians, causing physical injury. The manslaughter and two of the assault counts are felonies.
"In the space of just three months, her reckless conduct included striking three pedestrians, endangering countless others, and causing the death of a beloved grandfather of three," Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement. "My office will continue to advocate for legislation that enhances criminal accountability for vehicular violence and keeps reckless drivers off the road."
Information on an attorney for Fajardo wasn't immediately available.
