Cy Vance: Repeat Hit-and-Run Killer Shouldn’t Drive Again; Judge: Disagree

A driver who killed two people in separate hit-and-run crashes could be driving again in two years after a judge disregarded a sentencing recommendation from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.

020713beerdriver
Jack Montelbano killed two people in separate hit-and-run crashes. Manhattan DA Cy Vance recommended he never be allowed to drive again, but a judge revoked his license for just two years. Photo: Facebook via Gothamist

In 2013 Jack Montelbano ran over 69-year-old Shu Ying Liu with a private dump truck as Liu crossed 41st Street at Ninth Avenue in the crosswalk and with the right of way. Montelbano kept driving, and was later arrested in New Jersey, where he lived and where the truck was registered.

Vance charged Montelbano with felony leaving the scene, and last month he was convicted at trial.

Montelbano had killed while driving before. Incredibly, according to Vance’s office, he fatally struck another person and left the scene at the same Manhattan intersection in 2008.

Vance’s office said Montelbano was involved in a third hit-and-run crash, after which he registered a blood alcohol content of .18.

Montelbano accumulated over 20 offenses on his driving record in 30 years, according to Vance’s office, including speeding, following too closely, and driving with a suspended license. Some of those incidents occurred while Montelbano was operating commercial vehicles, Vance’s office said.

Given the class D felony conviction and Montelbano’s exceptional history of reckless driving, prosecutors recommended a sentence of two to six years in state prison and a permanent license revocation.

Instead Judge Anthony Ferrara sentenced Montelbano to six months in jail and five years probation, and revoked his driving privileges for two years. Per the terms of the sentence, Montelbano is prohibited from driving a commercial vehicle for five years, and his New York commercial vehicle license was permanently revoked.

“This driver showed cowardly and callous disregard for human life when he knowingly abandoned a critically injured person who wound up dying from injuries related to this crash,” said Vance spokesperson Joan Vollero, in a statement emailed to Streetsblog. “Making city streets safer for all New Yorkers is a priority for this Office, and has been the guiding principle behind our participation in regular meetings with the NYC Department of Transportation, Vision Zero panels, discussions with members of Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives, among others.”

In New York State, a revocation means a driver must apply to have his license reinstated. From what we can tell the process is similar in New Jersey. While it’s possible Montelbano won’t get his license back, Ferrara could have taken a reckless killer off the roads for good.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Cy Vance: Driver Who Jumped the Curb and Hit Senior Not Reckless

|
A motorist who hit another vehicle, jumped the curb, struck a 90-year-old man and crashed into Saks Fifth Avenue was not driving recklessly, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Mansoor Day was taking his regular walk Wednesday morning when Richard Moussi, driving a Ford SUV with North Carolina plates, hit another vehicle, […]

DA Candidate Cy Vance Outlines Traffic Safety Platform

|
Cy Vance has become the second contender for Manhattan district attorney to release a campaign plank on traffic crime. Cy Vance, Jr. Photo: Brad Aaron Vance’s proposals, detailed on his campaign web site, are impressively broad in scope. On the legislative front, Vance says he would advocate for graduated penalties for repeat traffic offenders and […]

Is Manhattan DA Cy Vance Delivering on Traffic Justice?

|
The 2009 race for Manhattan district attorney presented a rare opportunity for proponents of safer streets. After decades of indifference toward victims of vehicular violence from Robert Morgenthau, advocates succeeded in making traffic justice a prominent campaign issue for his would-be successors. Contenders for the office pledged to take definitive action to reduce the carnage […]

No Charges From Cy Vance for Killing of Yolanda Casal

|
The man who killed an Upper West Side pedestrian and injured a second while backing up in pursuit of a parking spot made his first court appearance last Friday on a charge of driving without a license.On June 30, Yolanda Casal, 78, and her 41-year-old daughter Anais Emmanuel were crossing Amsterdam Avenue near West 98th […]