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“There is nothing more irresponsible and selfish than getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence,” DA Katz said.
By Forum Staff
A Springfield Gardens man has been charged with manslaughter and drunk driving in connection with a fatal car crash in January 2020 in St. Albans, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.
Kassun Brown, 31, is accused of speeding through a stop sign and hitting another vehicle, killing its driver, a police officer from the 63rd Precinct.
Brown was arraigned on an indictment charging him with manslaughter in the second degree, assault in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, and failing to stop at a stop sign.
According to the charges, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, at approximately 11:58 p.m., Brown was allegedly driving a 2006 Nissan Maxima when he struck a vehicle at the intersection of Nashville Boulevard and Lucas Street in St. Albans. Video surveillance footage shows the car was proceeding southbound on Nashville Boulevard at a high rate of speed past a stop sign. Brown’s car strikes a Nissan sedan travelling westbound on Lucas Street pushing the victim’s car into a clockwise spin before it hits two parked cars. Brown’s car then veers southwest into a telephone pole.
Photo Courtesy of Google
The crash occurred at the intersection of Nashville Boulevard and Lucas Street in St. Albans.
Medical responders transported the gravely injured driver, 34-year-old City Police Officer Michael Ellis of St. Albans, to a local hospital for treatment of traumatic brain injury, a broken neck and facial fractures. Ellis died weeks later, on Feb. 27. Brown was also transported to a local hospital after the collision for treatment of a dislocated right ankle. A man who was a passenger in Brown’s car was transported to a hospital for treatment of fractured femur.
“There is nothing more irresponsible and selfish than getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence. Everyone with whom we share the road deserves our respect and consideration and has every right to reach their destination safely,” Katz said. “The defendant is alleged to have been driving while intoxicated and will be held to account for the tragic consequences of that decision, the senseless death of an NYPD officer.”
If convicted, Brown faces up to 15 years in prison.
