Driver indicted after Williamsburg crash kills passenger
A driver in a southbound 2010 Mercedes sedan disregarded traffic control and hit an eastbound bus at Harrison Avenue and Lorimer Street, the city record shows, and prosecutors said Michael Rivera was later indicted after passenger Alex Caba-Gutierrez died.
What We Know
On Feb. 26, 2024, a driver in a southbound 2010 Mercedes sedan hit an eastbound bus at Harrison Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg at about 9:46 p.m. The city crash record listed traffic control disregarded for the sedan and recorded one motorist killed and two injured. Police and prosecutors said Michael Rivera, the Mercedes driver, ran red lights before hitting an MTA bus, then left after rear-seat passenger Alex Caba-Gutierrez was thrown from the car. Caba-Gutierrez was taken to Bellevue and pronounced dead. Brooklyn prosecutors later said Rivera had been driving more than 49 mph in a 25 mph zone and indicted him on manslaughter and related charges.
A red-light collision at Harrison and Lorimer
The crash was recorded at 9:46 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2024, at Harrison Avenue and Lorimer Street in Brooklyn. The city record says the driver of a southbound 2010 Mercedes sedan and the eastbound bus driver were both going straight ahead, and it listed traffic control disregarded for the sedan.
Brooklyn Paper, citing NYPD, reported that the Mercedes driver ran a steady red light and hit an MTA bus in the intersection. Prosecutors later identified the driver as Michael Rivera and said surveillance showed him running multiple red lights before the impact.
The passenger who died and the people hurt
The city record lists the person killed as a male right-rear passenger in the sedan. It records his age as 32; Brooklyn Paper and prosecutors identified him as Alex Caba-Gutierrez and described him as 33, and the DA said he died on his 33rd birthday.
The city record lists two motorists injured. Brooklyn Paper reported that paramedics took the 31-year-old MTA bus driver and a 41-year-old bus passenger to local hospitals in stable condition.
What the records say about the vehicles and impact
The city record describes the sedan as a 2010 Mercedes and the bus as a 2018 New Flyer. Prosecutors described the Mercedes as red and unregistered.
Source accounts differed on what happened after the initial impact. Brooklyn Paper’s initial NYPD account and the DA’s later account said the collision sent the Mercedes onto the sidewalk and into a CitiBike rack; the New York Post, also citing police, reported that the bus was forced onto the sidewalk and into a Citi Bike kiosk.
Prosecutors alleged speeding, red lights and leaving the scene
At arraignment, the Brooklyn DA said Rivera drove faster than 49 mph in a 25 mph zone and ran multiple red lights. Prosecutors said surveillance showed Rivera exiting, walking up to Caba-Gutierrez, and then leaving the scene.
A Williamsburg intersection with a recent injury history
The collision happened at Harrison Avenue and Lorimer Street in Brooklyn’s 11206 ZIP code, an area described in the press accounts as Williamsburg or South Williamsburg.
Brooklyn Paper reported that Caba-Gutierrez lived about a mile from the scene and that CrashMapper showed three crashes causing five injuries at the intersection.