MANHATTAN — A New Jersey driver who left a Columbia student in critical condition after a hit-and-run was arrested last month for driving with a suspended license and released that same day, records show.
Brayard Arno, 28, whose license has been suspended in New York three times, badly injured the 19-year-old scholar's head and legs when he struck him in the crosswalk at West 115th Street and Riverside Drive about 12:25 a.m. Monday, NYPD officials said.
The student had been listed in critical condition at Mount Sinai St. Luke's, police said.
Arno, whose car can be seen in police footage hurtling toward the young man, turned himself in to police Tuesday morning and was arrested for leaving the scene and driving without a license, officials said.
Arno, of Prospect Park, N.J., was still awaiting arraignment Wednesday morning, records show.
His license had been suspended three times by New York authorities and he has twice failed to show up for his court dates, an NYPD spokesman said.
He was arrested on May 14 when NYPD officer James Conn spotted him driving near Amsterdam Avenue and West 155th Street about 12:20 p.m., even though his license was suspended because he didn't pay fines on time, prosecutors said.
Arno was charged with driving without a license and released later that day, records show.
He's due back in court on those charge on June 28, records show.
Arno's New Jersey driving record is clean, said a spokeswoman for the state's Motor Vehicle Commission. New York DMV officials didn't immediately return a request for comment.
