Driver Who Fatally Struck UWS Doorman Pleads Not Guilty, DA Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A woman with a shoddy driving record is facing upgraded charges for fatally striking a beloved Upper West Side doorman this summer, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced.

Jessenia Fajardo, 34, was indicted on manslaughter and assault charges Thursday for running a red light on West End Avenue and West 98th street in June, striking 64-year-old doorman Alfred Pocari and a 65-year-old woman who were crossing the street, prosecutors said. Pocari died in the hospital five days after the crash.

Pocari worked on the Upper West Side as a doorman at a West End Avenue building and was known for his warm personality, the West Side Rag first reported. The doorman moved to New York from Albania and was a grandfather, according to the report.

The new charges are a serious upgrade from the offenses Fajardo faced when she was first arrested, which included ailing to yield to a pedestrian, driving without insurance, disobeying traffic laws and failing to exercise due care.

Fajardo was also hit with assault charges Thursday relating to a separate incident where she hit a man with her car in May, prosecutors said. She is accused of driving over a man's foot while in the Tribeca intersection of Desbrosses Street and Washington Street, stopping her car and then fleeing the scene when the man said he was going to file a police report, according to a criminal complaint.

"While other types of crime drop to historic lows across New York City, pedestrians and cyclists remain under constant threat of vehicular violence from habitually reckless drivers," Vance said in a statement. "As alleged in this indictment, this defendant’s driving record demonstrates a history of disregard for our laws and the safety of her fellow New Yorkers."