Crown Heights Man Faces 25 Yrs For Running Over Bus Driver: DA

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights man accused of mowing down a school bus driver in a road rage incident earlier this year could face 25 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said this week.

Kymani Hardie, 22, was arraigned Monday on second-degree attempted murder, assault and leaving the scene of an incident charges for the April 30 altercation, when officials say he intentionally ran over the bus driver after a dispute at a red light.

Hardie faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count, prosecutors said.

“The alleged actions of this defendant are truly horrifying," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "He is accused of mowing down an innocent bus driver, striking her on purpose and in cold blood and then fleeing the scene. This type of senseless violence cannot be tolerated, and we will now seek to hold him fully accountable.”

The arraignment includes new details about the encounter, which unfolded at the corner of Linden Boulevard and Hinsdale Street in East New York around 5:15 p.m.

Officials said Hardie became enraged when his Infinity sedan was blocked by the yellow school bus, which was standing at the red light. He got out of his car, banged on the bus and broke two of its mirrors, prosecutors said.

When the 44-year-old bus driver got out of the bus and started recording Hardie with her cell phone, he drove over the median and straight into her, not stopping even as she rolled beneath his wheels, according to officials and video.

The bus driver, who was the only one in the school bus at the time, was left in critical condition with a shattered pelvis, broken ribs, lacerated liver and other injuries, officials said.

Investigators later caught Hardie, with a bandaged hand, driving the same car to check into a nearby hotel, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested in June after his DNA was matched to the Infinity and the bus mirror, prosecutors said.

Hardie is being held on a $75,000 bond or $50,000 cash bail. He will return to court in September.