WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — An Uptown city councilman has introduced legislation to put city money aside for a special "hit-and-run reward" fund to compensate tipsters with information on accidents — and launch an Amber Alert-type system to notify the public about cars involved in crashes.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez announced the bills Wednesday, in the wake of a series of fatal hit-and-run crashes, including one on New Year’s Eve.
"Hit and runs occur with far too great a frequency,” Rodriguez said in a statement, adding that “enough is enough" and it's time to make hit-and-run crashes a priority.
While the particulars of the notification system are still being worked out, the hit-and-run alerts would operate similar to the Notify NYC system, which sends out messages about storm warnings and flooding threats, Rodriguez spokesman Russell Murphy wrote in an email to DNAinfo New York.
Murphy said the new legislation will enable the mayor to authorize payment from the NYPD to those offering important information. The NYPD currently offers rewards for information about certain crimes through its anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline. It was not immediately clear how the hit-and-run reward fund would relate to the Crime Stoppers program.
Last month, popular Spanish music DJ Jinx Paul was killed walking across the street in East New York after a gig.
The DJ, whose real name was Jean Paul Guerrero, was struck by a black four-door sedan at 4 a.m. Dec. 19 — whose driver then fled the scene.
A man turned himself in in connection to the crime on the day of Guerrero's funeral, but police later said they were dropping charges against him and were looking for three women who were caught on video getting into the crash car.
On Dec. 28, Evedette Sanchez, 39, of Ocean Hill, was hit and killed by a dark green SUV as she crossed Louisiana Avenue near Flatlands Avenue in East New York. That driver remains at large.
And on New Year's Day, a hit-and-run driver killed 52-year-old Thomas Bradley, Jr. of St. Albans as he was crossing South Conduit Avenue near Rockaway Boulevard in Springfield Gardens at 2:34 a.m. Sunday, the NYPD said. Police have not released a description of the vehicle or the driver.
