NEW YORK CITY — An MTA Bridge and Tunnel officer hit a pedestrian in Brooklyn, put him in his car, then left him on Staten Island, prosecutors said.
Lawrence Ffrench, 42, was indicted Wednesday for leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it and intimidating a witness for the 2016 incident, Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.
"That an on-duty officer would strike a pedestrian and leave the scene is shocking; that he would move the victim and ask him not to report the officer is even more egregious," Gonzalez said in a statement. "The defendant’s post at the time of the incident was traffic enforcement — he should have been keeping pedestrians safe, not endangering lives."
On May 26, 2016, Bridge and Tunnels Officer Ffrench was driving a marked MTA vehicle when he struck a 41-year-old man near the corner of 92nd Street and Gatling Place in Bay Ridge, prosecutors said.
The victim was thrown through the air, landed on the ground and was unable to walk after the crash.
Ffrench got out, placed the victim in the back of the car then drove over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island, prosecutors said.
He took the first exit in Staten Island then drove around and eventually leaving the victim at Tompkins and Wadsworth avenues, authorities said.
Before he left, Ffrench told the victim not to tell anybody who hit him and promised he would call an ambulance.
The victim almost immediately called 911 after Ffrench left and told them what happened.
He was taken to Staten Island University Hospital with injuries to his right arm and knee. He spent four days in the hospital and had surgery on his knee, prosecutors said.
Ffrench worked as an MTA Bridge and Tunnel officer since 2007 and had no other disciplinary charges before this, a spokesman for the MTA said. He's been suspended without pay since the arrest.
"Providing a safe environment on and around our facilities is our top concern and the allegations made are deeply troubling," MTA spokesman Christopher McKniff said in a statement.
Ffrench was held without bail and is due back in court Aug. 23, prosecutors said. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Contact information for his lawyer was not immediately available.
