BK Driver Who Fatally Mowed Down Cyclist Sentenced: DA

BROOKLYN, NY - A Brooklyn man was sentenced Tuesday after admitting to fatally running over a cyclist he said was trying to steal his Jeep in Bushwick, prosecutors said.

Korey Johnson, 45, of Ocean Hill, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the intentional hit that killed Donald Roberts, 47, on Sept. 3, 2019, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Johnson pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Feb. 9.

“This defendant’s extreme reaction when he allegedly witnessed a relatively minor, non-violent crime cost a man his life,” Gonzalez said. “Rather than reporting the incident to police, the defendant deliberately chased the victim in his car, striking and killing him, while endangering everyone else on the road. He has now been brought to justice.”

The chase began when Johnson allegedly found Roberts trying to break into his 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee parked on Broadway near Ellery Street in Bushwick, prosecutors said.

Johnson jumped in his car and sped after Roberts, who tried to cycle away down Broadway, but was crushed by the SUV, which slammed into a row of parked cars and flipped on its side, said prosecutors.

Roberts became one of 23 cyclists to be fatally injured in New York City streets that year when he died in Woodhull Hospital hours later, prosecutors said. Johnson was arrested shortly after police pulled him out of the Jeep.