Suspect arrested in Brooklyn hit-and-run that killed woman, injured daughter days before Mother's Day
NEW YORK – Police have made an arrest in a Brooklyn hit-and-run that left a woman dead and her daughter injured days before Mother's Day.
Juanita Vidal, 71, was killed and her 44-year-old daughter was critically hurt in the crash in Bushwick on May 9.
Police said Robert Matthews, 26, was arrested Monday and faces a slew of charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He is also charged with fleeing a police officer, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to obey a traffic device.
Driver struck pedestrians while fleeing traffic stop, police say
According to police, officers were trying to pull Matthews over for a traffic infraction when he took off on Eldert Street.
Matthews allegedly blew through two stop signs, swerved to avoid a vehicle and struck Vidal and her daughter as they were crossing the street at Knickerbocker Avenue.
Police said Matthews then crashed into an unoccupied parked car, which in turn struck another unoccupied parked car. Matthews allegedly got out of the vehicle and ran away after the crash.
Vidal was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Loved ones told CBS New York Vidal had lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years, and the crash happened just a block from the home she shared with her daughter and her family.
Her daughter was taken to another hospital to be treated for multiple broken ribs and lung injuries. The daughter's husband told CBS New York back in May that she faced a long road to recovery.