The out-of-control driver of a stolen rental car accused of killing two people in Chinatown had been freed without bail in April after she was arrested for leaving the scene of a crash that badly injured a pedestrian, the Daily News has learned.
The driver’s distraught family defended her in an exclusive interview with The News on Sunday, saying they were shocked by the wreck and couldn’t believe she would try to flee.
“She’s very loving, very kind,” the driver’s 30-year-old sister said. “She’s a great mother. … She’s so kind. If you see her, all she does is smile.”
Whatever happened had to have been entirely accidental, the sister said.
“Everything feels unreal,” she said. “I have so much questions for her.”
Three months before the fatal high-speed Saturday morning smash up at the Bowery and Canal St., the 23-year-old driver allegedly clipped a woman stepping out of an Uber in Brooklyn, causing serious injuries, and fled, sources said.
The driver, who was unlicensed at the time, plowed a white Nissan into the 22-year-old victim near Coney Island Ave. and Beverly Road in Kensington about 2:30 a.m. on April 13, according to cops.
The victim suffered injuries to her collarbone, nose, mouth and shoulder, but survived. The driver fled, but police identified her with the help of a witness and arrested her that day, cops said.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Cops investigate the fatal crash in Chinatown near the Manhattan Bridge Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated driving without a license before being released following her arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
She is due back in court on Aug. 5 in that case. The charges are not bail eligible under New York State law.
According to her sister, she had to do community service and take a driving class — and lost her jobs working with children and people with mental problems due to the arrest.
On Saturday, the same driver was behind the wheel of a stolen rental Chevy Malibu exiting the Manhattan Bridge when she launched into a busy pedestrian island about 7:30 a.m., ripping a metal bench from the ground and killing May Kwok, 63, who was sitting on it, according to cops. The impact tore Kwok’s legs from her body.
A second victim, Kevin Cruickshank, 55, who was riding a bicycle, was thrown against a nearby storefront, a horrified witness told the Daily News.
A spokesman for Cruickshank’s family called him a “dear friend, neighbor, loving son and husband.”
Courtesy of family
Victim Kevin Scott Cruickshank. (Courtesy of family)
“Kevin was a regular fixture in the neighborhood, known for his warm, welcoming spirit and love of helping his friends and neighbors,” the spokesman said. “Kevin loved riding his bike and was often seen around the neighborhood coming back from a long ride. It’s devastating to know he was killed doing something he loved.”
Both victims died at the scene.
The driver then rammed an unoccupied NYPD van parked next to the crosswalk on the east side of the Bowery before stopping in the street. She ran off, as did her 22-year-old passenger, as witnesses tried to stop them. Police caught both about a block away.
Police have not yet released the driver’s name and charges against her were still pending Sunday. She and her passenger were taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries.
Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News
A memorial is seen at the base of the Manhattan Bridge near the crash site on Sunday night. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News)
“We’re just confused and the fact that we can’t speak to her to know how she felt, what’s going on. We’re just stuck. We want to know what happened,” the driver’s sister said. “I love her. And I’m always going to be here for her.”
The driver is a single mother of a 4-year-old boy.
“I know it’s going to bother him because they’re always together,” the driver’s sister said of potential new charges related to the Chinatown crash. “Just don’t take her away from us.”
Originally Published: July 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM EDT
