Tractor Driver Who Hit And Killed BK Woman Charged, DA Says

BROOKLYN, NY — A tractor driver who fatally struck a woman in the middle of a Brooklyn street last year now faces criminal charges, as does his supervisor, prosecutors announced Friday.

Luis Enrique Zuniga — who drove the 9-ton loader, or backhoe — and foreman Justin Ostrowski were arraigned on manslaughter charges Friday, nearly a year after 61-year-old Estelle Davis was hit in East New York, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

"We allege that in this case, safety protocols were completely ignored," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "An 18,000-pound backhoe was operated dangerously on the sidewalk and in the middle of a busy intersection, leading to the tragic and needless death of a beloved woman."

The two were installing a manhole in East New York on March 5 when Ostrowski ordered Zuniga to go fix another manhole's plate a block away, prosecutors said.

Zuniga drove the backhoe on and off the sidewalk near Van Sinderen and New Lots Avenues for 20 minutes, narrowly missing several pedestrians and a car, before backing into the intersection, surveillance video shows.

After quickly glancing over his shoulder, he reversed, sending the rear bucket arm of the backhoe into Davis' head, knocking her to the ground, prosecutors said.

Zuniga continued to back over Davis and drove forward over her body a second time, prosecutors said.

She died less than an hour later, according to prosecutors.

Investigators found that the job site at Van Sinderen and New Lots, unlike the first site a block away, had no safeguards in place, like barricades, cones, flag persons or spotters, prosecutors said.

"The work permit at that location included several NYC Department of Transportation safety stipulations, such as barriers and a protected pedestrian walkway, none of which were installed at the time of the incident," prosecutors said.

Ostrowski and Zuniga were charged with manslaughter, criminally-negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and released without bail, prosecutors said.

Zuniga also faces charges for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and reckless driving, according to prosecutors.

The two men are slated to return to court in April and face a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted, prosecutors said.