Man Arrested For Fatal Times Square Hit-And-Run, Police Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A Queens man is facing charges for hitting and killing cyclist Chaim Joseph in Midtown Manhattan and leaving the scene, police said.

Queens resident Kenneth Jackson was arrested Tuesday and charged with failure to yield to a bicyclist and failure to use due care, police said. The arrest was made nearly two months after Jackson struck and killed Joseph in the intersection of West 45th Street and Eighth Avenue on Feb. 4.

Police did not charge Jackson with leaving the scene of a collision even though he did not stay on the scene after striking Joseph with his big-rig truck. Drivers charged with leaving the scene of a collision that causes serious physical injury or death can face years in jail for the felony offense.

A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's office could not comment on the charges Tuesday because Jackson had not yet been arraigned. The DA's spokeswoman referred questions to the NYPD. An NYPD spokesperson referred questions to the DA.

The failure to yield charge implies that Joseph had the right of way when he entered the intersection on his bike.

Chaim, 72,was riding his bike through the intersection of West 45th Street and Eight Avenue around 6 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 4 when he was hit by a truck attempting a left turn, police said. EMS rushed Chaim to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead, an NYPD spokesman said.

In the days following the collision, police were seen cracking down on cyclists at nearby intersections. One activist told Patch that she witnessed a police officer from the Midtown North precinct shove a man off his bike at a corner where a number of cyclists were being ticketed.

One cyclist took to Twitter to say he was ticketed for failing to wear a helmet, which is not a violation unless a cyclist is younger than 14 years old.

There have been 20 traffic injuries at the intersection of West 45th Street and Eighth avenue in the past five years, according to city vision zero data. The Feb. 4 collision is the first fatality at the intersection since 2009, according to the data.

Activists with Families For Safe Streets of Transportation Alternatives and the New York City Ghost Bike Project placed an all-white ghost bike in memory of Chaim in the intersection where he was killed.