MANHATTAN — A woman lying in the middle of a bus lane near Stuyvesant Town early Saturday was killed by a yellow cab driver who briefly dragged her body down the street as he fled the scene, according to police and reports.
Kenya Flores, 44, was laying down in the bus lane on First Avenue between East 16th and 17th streets shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday when yellow cab driver John Bangura, 68, ran her over, according to NYPD officials and reports.
A witness told police they noticed Flores lying in the bus lane before seeing the taxi swerve into the bus lane, hit Flores and drag her body before fleeing, according to a criminal complaint.
Bangura confirmed to investigators that he was driving at the time and at the location in question, according to a criminal complaint, but his lawyer said Bangura thought he had hit a pothole, according to the Daily News.
Flores, who lived in Parkchester, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, police said.
Investigators found debris at the scene that they were able to match to the front bumper of Bangura's taxi, and marks on the car matches the clothing worn by Flores when she was hit, according to a criminal complaint.
Bangura, of Washington Heights, was later arrested and arraigned on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, according to police. He was ordered held at Manhattan Detention Complex on $5,000 bail and is due back in court on Friday, according to prosecutors and Department of Corrections records online.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission has suspended Bangura's license pending the outcome of the charges against him, according to an agency spokesman.
