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New York • One man was killed and three other pedestrians were injured early Saturday when an off-duty police officer's SUV struck them in a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Authorities said 28-year-old Nicholas Batka lost control of his vehicle and it mounted the sidewalk on a street in the popular Williamsburg section, striking two men and two women. Batka faces driving-while-intoxicated charges after the 3 a.m. accident.
Police spokesman Officer Brian Magoolaghan said Batka has worked 1½ years in the New York Police Department Transit Bureau Manhattan task force. He said Batka was suspended and remained in custody, awaiting an initial court appearance. It was not immediately clear who will represent him in court.
Magoolaghan said the pedestrians, all believed to be in their 20s, were taken to area hospitals, where the survivors remained in stable condition Saturday.
The New York Post quoted neighborhood residents as saying people were awakened by screams after the accident.
"I was woken up with a huge noise. People were screaming in agony," Agata Winter told the newspaper.
Angela Zielinski, another witness, told the Post she confronted the driver.
"Dude ... you just hit four people," she recalled telling him. "He stared at me with a blank stare."
Another witness, Kelly Convery, told the newspaper that Batka tried to drive away from the scene and when he couldn't, he moved to the vehicle's passenger side.
"Everyone saw him do it," she said.
Zielinski said she saw Batka show his police badge to people gathered around the vehicle.