The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

A wrong-way driver plowed into a grocery store on Orchard Street following a police chase. Photo: ##http://www.boweryboogie.com/2012/10/breaking-car-plows-into-corner-grocers-on-orchard-street/##Bowery Boogie##

Fatal Crashes (6 killed in the last two weeks, 124 this year, 9 drivers charged*)

Port Richmond: Margaret King, 81, Fatally Struck Crossing Street; Driver Issued Failure to Yield Summons (Advance)
Bushwick: Cyclist Terence Conor, 26, Killed By Hit-and-Run Driver (Gothamist)
Jamaica: Mary Gater, 60, Struck By 85-Year-Old Driver Who Mounted Sidewalk; “No Criminality Suspected” (Post Blotter)**
Midtown: Ken Baker, 26, Struck By Tractor-Trailer Driver Making Left Turn; “No Criminality Suspected” (Post)
Morningside Heights: Arnold Slater, 75, Killed in Hit-and-Run Crossing Broadway (DNA)
East Williamsburg: Carolina Berscakiewicz, 21, Killed After Boyfriend Slams Car Into Utility Pole; Driver Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter (Post)

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

Greenpoint: Wrong-Way Driver on BQE Leads Police Chase Before Crashing (Gothamist)
Bushwick: Bystanders Rescue Woman and Two Toddler Grandchildren Pinned By Driver (NBC NY, Post)**
Bed-Stuy: Three Injured in Ambulance-SUV Collision (DNA)
East Flatbush: School Bus Carrying 14 Children Crashes on Church Avenue (DNA)
Canarsie: Elderly Driver Hospitalized After Slamming SUV Into House (DNA)**
Bayside: Eight Injured in Multi-Vehicle Crash on Cross Island Parkway (Times Ledger)
LES: Driver Slams Into Bodega Following Police Chase (Gothamist)**
Tottenville: Intoxicated Driver Crashes Into Home, Pinning Woman and Five-Year-Old Daughter in Kitchen (Advance)**
Whitestone Bridge: Driver Speeding Through Toll Booth Causes Eight-Car Pile-Up, Injures Seven (Post)
Kensington: Pedestrian Crossing Ocean Parkway Struck By Minivan Driver; “No Criminality Suspected” (DNA)
Tompkinsville: Drunk Driver Crashes Minivan Into Two Vehicles, Injures Four (Post Blotter)
Grasmere: Driver With Suspended License Swerves Across Median, Assaults Officer Who Pulled Her Over (Post Blotter)
Sunset Park: Man Punched in Face in Parking Space Dispute (Post Blotter)

Margaret King, 81, was out shopping when a driver making a left turn struck her in Port Richmond, S.I. She later died from injuries. The driver was ticketed for failure to yield. Photo via ##http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/staten_island_woman_81_succumb.html##Advance##

In the Region, Out of Town

Jackson, NJ: S.I. Teen Sisters Killed in Two-Car Crash En Route to High School Band Festival (Advance)
Southern State Pkwy, NY: Four Queens Teens Killed Crashing Off Highway; Unlicensed Driver Only Survivor (News, Post)
Bloomfield, NJ: Driver Whose High-Speed Crash Killed 16-Year-Old Passenger Charged With Vehicular Homicide (NBC NY)
Syosset, NY: School Bus Driver Carrying Five Children Charged With DWI After Crashing Into House (Post)

Following Up

Hit-and Run Driver Who Mowed Down S.I. Grandmother in April Indicted for Criminally Negligent Homicide, Leaving Scene (Advance)
Following Death of Cyclist Alexander Martinez, Renewed Call for Safety Improvements on Queens Blvd. (DNA)
DOT Adds Traffic Light at S.I. Intersection Where Cyclist Ronald Tillman Was Killed (Advance)
Neighbors of Hit-and-Run Victim Terence Connor Want Safety Fixes for Cyclists on Metropolitan Ave. (Bklyn Paper)
Judge: NYPD “Needlessly Delayed” Giving Lefevre Crash Documents to Family (Times, Gothamist)

*Based on latest available reports
**Incident in which a vehicle left the roadway