NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for charges against the driver who ran a red light and caused a collision that led to the death of a bicycle rider in Brooklyn Sunday.
The car T-boned another vehicle which then slammed into 52-year-old Joe Alzorriz, of Park Slope, who was on his bike.
One of the cars then jumped the sidewalk and crashed into a building.
"If you kill someone through your negligence, maybe that's not murder one, I'm not a lawyer but I'd say it should be a serious, serious charge with many years in prison. Because it's negligence. It's not that something unavoidable happened and the driver was put in a horrible situation. He blew through a red light at high speed, and someone is gone now, a family is grieving, there should be a much higher consequence," Mayor de Blasio said.
The driver of the car that ran through the red light, 18-year-old Umar Baig, was not impaired.
He was briefly held and released.
De Blasio says he should be on the hook for more than just running a light.
Nineteen bike riders have been killed in city traffic this year.