NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Police charged a man with manslaughter and drunk driving in a 2020 collision that killed an NYPD officer in Queens, District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.
Kassun Brown, 31, of Springfield Gardens, was charged with manslaughter assault, vehicular manslaughter, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and failing to stop at a stop sign.
At approximately 11:58 p.m. on Friday, January 17, 2020, Brown was driving a in a 2006 Nissan Maxima when he allegedly sped through a stop sign and hit another vehicle at the intersection of Nashville Boulevard and Lucas Street in St. Albans.
Brown’s car struck a Nissan sedan travelling westbound on Lucas Street forcing the victim’s car into a clockwise spin before it hit two parked cars.
Brown’s car then crashed into a telephone pole.
Medical responders transported 34-year-old NYPD Officer Michael Ellis, who was driving the Nissan sedan, to a local hospital for treatment of traumatic brain injury, a broken neck and facial fractures.
Officer Ellis, of the 63rd Precinct in Brooklyn, died weeks later, on February 27.
Brown was also transported to a local hospital after the crash for treatment of a dislocated right ankle. A man who was a passenger in his car suffered a fractured femur and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Brown is set to return to court on April 26. If convicted, he faces up to 7 and a half to 15 years in prison.
"There is nothing more irresponsible and selfish than getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence," District Attorney Katz said. "Everyone with whom we share the road deserves our respect and consideration and has every right to reach their destination safely. The defendant is alleged to have been driving while intoxicated and will be held to account for the tragic consequences of that decision, the senseless death of an NYPD officer."
Related
Related
