MIDTOWN — A group of good Samaritans desperately tried to help an elderly jeweler trapped under a livery cab that struck her near the Morgan Library & Museum on Monday morning, flipping the car in order to free her, police and witnesses said.
Their effort was in vain, police said. The jeweler, Carol Dauplaise, 77, who founded her eponymous jewelry business in 1979, died a short time later at Bellevue Hospital.
Buddhi Gurung, 49, was arrested and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian while in a motor vehicle and failure to exercise due care. The latter is a misdemeanor charge under Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Vision Zero" plan to eradicate pedestrian fatalities. As of January, only 15 percent of drivers who had killed pedestrians or cyclists were charged under this law.
Dauplaise was crossing westbound on West 36th Street at Madison Avenue when the Toyota livery cab ran her over about 8:35 a.m., witnesses and an NYPD spokesman said.
"Boom! I saw the guy going over her. She was on her back by the front tires. She was bleeding. She had blood all over her face," said Rony Damestoir, 45, who was driving nearby at the time.
Damestoir and about nine other people raced to the jeweler's side and lifted the livery cab off her, flipping it onto its side, he said. Surveillance footage shows people rushing to her aid as she lay behind some curbside pay phones.
"It was really sad. This poor lady," Damestoir said.
Rony Damestoir, 45, and about nine other people lifted the car off the woman who was run over, he said. (DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp)
She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, police said.
Dauplaise started her jewelry career as a receptionist but later founded her own "multi-million dollar" company in 1979 with one other sales person, according to her company's website.
"Carol Dauplaise believes that style is a life necessity, not a luxury," her website says.
Those who knew her said she was very particular about her appearance and affairs.
"She was always groomed, always with a cardigan. She was never in gym clothes or anything. Her hair was well done," said Sophie Lee, 39, a manager of Ballet Slippers Spa Lounge which Dauplaise visited weekly.
"She was always polite, but demanding. She wanted things done right. We had to be on time with her appointment. She'd make plans three weeks in advance and she'd come in once a week," Lee said.
Dauplaise visited Lee's salon Sunday and the manager was heartbroken to hear about her customer's death.
"I just can't believe it. It's so sad," Lee said.
Gurung, who remained at the scene, did not have any crashes tied to his Taxi and Limousine Commission license, but it was suspended after he hit Dauplaise, pending the outcome of the investigation, a TLC spokeswoman said.
Buddhi Gurung, 49, was arrested for failing to exercise due care when he hit Carol Dauplaise, 77, in Manhattan, police said. (NYPD)
"The driver was nervous. He was shaken," Damestoir said.
The crash comes after a weekend of crashes that left four pedestrians dead.
