Woman killed by NYC driver fleeing cops IDed as Lynn Christopher: cops
Authorities confirmed the identity of the Brooklyn grandmother killed when a reckless driver trying to evade cops slammed into her and critically injured her grandson over the weekend.
Lynn Christopher, 67, was fatally struck during the motorist’s Saturday evening rampage, which spanned five blocks and ended at the corner of Ralph Avenue and Halsey Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, cops said.
Her 8-year-old grandson was still clinging to life Monday morning, police said.
Christopher, who lived just blocks from the scene, was spending the day with her grandson Jacob Butler — who was visiting from Atlanta — when they were mowed down, the fatal victim’s daughter Lesley Christopher told WCBS.
“It’s the most devastating thing in the world to see your mom and your nephew hurt and you can’t go to them, to at least just be there with her,” Lesley told the network.
“They just drove off and they left them in the street like they were garbage,” Lesley said of the hit-and-run motorist. “Who does that? To good people who are just going about their day and just trying to live their life? I don’t understand.”
Lesley told the outlet Sunday that her nephew was on a ventilator at Maimonides Medical Center, and required surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
He also sustained a broken leg, she said.
Three other people were also hospitalized in connection with the reckless rampage, according to police.
The frenzy started when cops spotted a suspected stolen car with mismatched plates whose passengers appeared to be smoking marijuana, Assistant Chief Judith Harrison said during a news conference at the scene.
A patrol car with three cops inside pulled the car over at Ralph Avenue and Chauncey Street, she said.
“As our police officers exited their vehicle and walked up to that vehicle on foot, that vehicle fled at an extremely high rate of speed,” Harrison said.
The car rammed into a cyclist and two pedestrians at the corner of Ralph and Macon Street before hitting another pedestrian and a vehicle farther up the block, according to police.
One person was initially taken into custody, but that person was found not to be responsible for the rampage and released, cops confirmed Monday.
Police were still looking for the driver Monday morning.
An impassioned Mayor Eric Adams lashed out at judges, prosecutors and politicians while blaming the tragedy on the state’s lenient bail reform policy.
“Without even know[ing] who they are, I guarantee you they have a long criminal record, I guarantee you they have a history. That’s the only thing we’re sure of,” Adams continued.
“We are inviting innocent people to die in this city.”
