Hit-and-run Jeep driver killed Bronx ATV rider, police said
A driver in a gray Jeep hit two southbound riders at Southern Boulevard and East 180th Street in the Bronx on Nov. 17, 2023, killing 37-year-old Raymond Brightman, police told the Daily News.
What We Know
Raymond Brightman, 37, was riding south on Southern Boulevard near East 180th Street on Nov. 17, 2023, when police said a driver in a gray Jeep hit him and a 30-year-old friend riding beside him. The official crash record lists three southbound vehicles: a motorbike, an all-terrain vehicle and a Jeep pickup, with one motorist killed and one injured. The Daily News, citing police, identified Brightman as the ATV rider and reported that both riders were thrown to the street; Brightman died at St. Barnabas Hospital from a head injury, while the other rider was expected to recover. Police were still seeking the Jeep driver several days later.
Police said a Jeep driver hit two riders and left.
The crash happened about 7:20 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, near Southern Boulevard and East 180th Street in East Tremont. Police told the Daily News that Raymond Brightman was riding south on an ATV alongside a 30-year-old friend on an off-road motorcycle when a driver in a passing gray Jeep hit both men.
Both riders were thrown to the asphalt. Medics took them to St. Barnabas Hospital, where Brightman died a few hours later from a massive head injury. The other rider suffered a back injury and was expected to recover.
The official vehicle record and police account differ on one key label.
The official crash record lists three southbound vehicles: a motorbike, an all-terrain vehicle and a Jeep pickup. It records center-back damage to the two smaller vehicles and center-front damage to the Jeep pickup.
The Daily News, citing police, identified Brightman as the ATV rider and described the second rider as being on an off-road motorcycle. The official person record lists the killed 37-year-old male motorist as the driver of the motorbike, so the public sources do not align on which ride Brightman was operating.
Southern Boulevard has seen repeated serious harm.
The crash occurred at Southern Boulevard and East 180th Street in the Bronx. CrashCountNYC location data for Southern Boulevard in the Bronx shows 1,329 crashes, 920 injuries, 70 serious injuries and 8 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Police were still looking for the driver days later.
The Daily News reported on Nov. 22, 2023, that police were still seeking the Jeep driver. Outside Brightman's East Harlem home, friends gathered at a makeshift candlelit memorial.