BROOKLYN — A Medgar Evers College student was killed when a intoxicated driver struck him before crashing and injuring five other people Saturday, police said.
Michael Joefield, 21, was rollerblading near Glenmore Avenue and Powell Street about 8:35 p.m. when Terrance Smith, 37, crashed his 2012 Infiniti into him while heading north on Powell Street, NYPD officials said.
Smith, of Bedford Heights, Ohio, then slammed into several parked cars before he hopped out and tried to flee on foot, police said.
Joefield, a Crown Heights resident who studied biology at Medgar Evers, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Five other people suffered injuries that weren't considered life-threatening and were treated at Brookdale Hospital, police said.
Police caught Smith near Junius Street and Pitkin Avenue, police said. He was initially arrested for driving while his ability was impaired and for leaving the scene of a crash, but he was later arraigned on a manslaughter charge, records show.
He was being held on a $1 million bold, jail records show.
Smith was previously imprisoned in the Cuyahoga County jail, according to the county's sheriff's office. It wasn't immediately clear why he was booked.
On Saturday night, Joefield had just returned home from his job as at a nearby flower shop when he stepped out to go rollerblading, said family friend, Lennard White, 52.
"He came home that night, put his bag down, kissed his mom and told her he'd be right back, but that was it. The cops came later and told us," White said.
"It's rough right now. We're just trying to cope. We're still in shock right now," said White, who'd been staying with Joefield's family since his death.
Joefield loved to rollerblade and was devoted to his mother, White said.
"He loved his rollerblades. That was his thing. He'd been doing that for quite some time. As soon as it got warm out, he'd get on his skates," White said.
"He just made the dean's list last Wednesday. His mom was so excited. She and her son were very close," he added.
