GOWANUS — The man who drove his car into the polluted Gowanus Canal on Monday after fleeing a hit-and-run crash wasn't driving with a valid license, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.
Police arrested Matthew Murphy, 36, after he crashed through a fence and drove his 2006 Audi into the canal near Degraw and Bond streets about 11:12 a.m., according to a criminal complaint.
Police say Murphy drove into the canal while fleeing a hit-and-run that injured a woman as she was taking her baby out of her car on Degraw and Court streets. Surveillance video from a store at Court and Degraw shows Murphy hitting the mom with his car, according to the criminal complaint.
The mother suffered a broken toe, according to the complaint.
Murphy was speeding when he blew through a stop sign and then landed in the toxin-riddled canal, according to a witness account in the criminal complaint.
His defense attorney, Joshua Fitch, said the media had given the public a "sensationalized version" of the incident.
“The story is a lot tamer than what the media would have people believe,” Fitch said.
Murphy was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Tuesday on charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, driving without a valid license and misdemeanor assault, court records show.
He was ordered held on $15,000 bail and is due back in court on Friday.
The mom and baby involved in the hit-and-run were treated at New York Methodist Hospital on Monday. Police did not have updated information Tuesday on the condition of the 1-year-old girl.
