Mercedes Driver Fleeing Police in Bushwick Crash; Passenger Killed
A 29-year-old Honda SUV passenger was killed in a May 26, 2024 crash in Bushwick after a Mercedes driver whom police identified as Juan Lopez ran a red light while fleeing a traffic stop, records and the Post reported.
What We Know
A city crash record says the May 26, 2024 crash at Central Avenue and Gates Avenue involved a westbound sedan and a southbound Honda SUV, with traffic-control disregard recorded for the sedan driver. The New York Post, citing police, identified the Mercedes driver as 32-year-old Juan Lopez and reported that he ran a red light while fleeing a traffic stop before hitting the Honda Pilot. The official record lists one person killed and four people injured. The Post identified the rear-seat passenger as Micah Dukes, 29, and said she was critically injured after police initially said she had died; the official record later listed a 29-year-old female passenger in that seating position as killed.
Police described a red-light crash during a flight from a traffic stop
The city crash record says the crash was reported at 6:28 a.m. on May 26, 2024, at Central Avenue and Gates Avenue; the Post, citing police, put the time around 5:30 a.m. Police told the Post that 32-year-old Juan Lopez, driving a Mercedes, ran a red light while fleeing a traffic stop in Bushwick and hit a Honda Pilot.
The official record lists a westbound sedan and a southbound Honda SUV. It records traffic-control disregard for the sedan driver and lists one person killed and four people injured.
Central Avenue and Gates Avenue in Bushwick
The crash happened at Central Avenue and Gates Avenue in Brooklyn's 11221 ZIP code, where the official record places the collision. The Post also described the scene as Central Avenue near Gates Avenue in Bushwick.
Micah Dukes was identified as the rear-seat passenger
The official record identifies the person killed as a 29-year-old female passenger seated in the right rear of the Honda SUV, which had four occupants. The Post identified the passenger as Micah Dukes, 29, from Albany, and reported that she had been riding with three other people.
The Post article, published May 28, said police then listed Dukes in critical condition after initially saying she had died; the official crash record later listed a fatality. The Post also reported that Dukes had graduated from Hudson Valley Community College in May 2023 with an Associate of Applied Science after studying Community Health Navigation.
A corner-store worker described the immediate aftermath
Edwin Castro, a corner-store employee, told the Post he saw a police car following the Mercedes before the driver ran the red light and hit the Honda. Castro said he went to help and saw Dukes on the sidewalk about 10 feet from the SUV before medics arrived.
Police told the Post that Lopez was taken into custody at the scene and hospitalized in stable condition.