Thank you for visiting this site. I have read as many articles related to the accident as possible in order to start this web site. In this first article, I would like to write the overview of the media release of the accident. The following is the narration from the NYPD accident report. | Ryo Oyamada |
“The accident happened at 0:45 a.m. on February 21st 2013. Vehicle #1 (marked NYPD vehicle) responding to an assault with a knife, with emergency lights activated, was traveling east bound on 40th Avenue. At approximately 60 feet east of 10th Street, pedestrian was crossing south to north on 40th Avenue mid-block when he walked into vehicle #1’s path of travel. Vehicle #1 did then stroke pedestrian causing death. Tentative name of victim is Ryo Oyamada. “
The following is the more details of the accident, which media reported after the accident. (Times Ledger, New York Post, ABC7, New York Times)
EMS arrived shortly afterward and pronounced the man dead. The windshield of the patrol car got cracked, but the officers were not seriously injured, although they were taken to New York Hospital Queens to be treated for trauma. Officers from another sector answered the report of the assault with knife eventually, but they did not find any assault in progress. Therefore, the officers marked the job ‘unfounded’.
If these statements are all correct, the accident could be just a tragedy with many unfortunate events. But there are many discrepancies between the police’s statement and what witnesses said.
Chuck Johnson, an eyewitness to the accident, told Gothamist that he saw Ryo leaving the deli. “He came out of the store (deli) and by the time I turned back around… he was on the ground dead in 35, 40 seconds.” He also said that the patrol car was traveling 70 mph, and that its siren was not turn on until two more patrol cars put theirs on. The overhead lights were never turned on. And another witness said “The patrol car was traveling very fast without a siren on.” She did not think Ryo would cross the street if he had heard the siren. In addition, a witness (probably the same person from the previous statement) said “There was no time for him to run. It was too fast.” That is, at least two witnesses mentioned that the patrol car was driving very fast. And the person who lives in front of the accident scene said “If the headlight was on, I would notice from the reflection.”
In addition, a witness who saw the scene where Ryo was struck said “He flew into the air and fell on the ground. The patrol car could not stop and kept traveling a little bit and came back U turned.” And one witness who answered on ABC 7 news said “His head was busted real bad and his leg was twisted. Everybody was saying, you know, that was it for him. He was still breathing a little. He was taking deep breaths, trying to hold on. The police did nothing to try to help him and made everyone back up toward the sidewalk, and they just left him lying on the street.” This police officer’s action, “making everyone back up toward sidewalk,” was captured in a movie showing the interaction between the police and some witnesses, which was uploaded on YouTube after the accident. (Pix 11 news)
In response to these eyewitness reports, a police spokesman told the New York Times that their emergency lights had been activated, but he did not know if their siren was on. NYPD additionally added Ryo may not have noticed the NYPD cruiser because he was wearing a hoodie and listening to headphones at the time of the accident.
EMS arrived shortly afterward and pronounced the man dead. The windshield of the patrol car got cracked, but the officers were not seriously injured, although they were taken to New York Hospital Queens to be treated for trauma. Officers from another sector answered the report of the assault with knife eventually, but they did not find any assault in progress. Therefore, the officers marked the job ‘unfounded’.
If these statements are all correct, the accident could be just a tragedy with many unfortunate events. But there are many discrepancies between the police’s statement and what witnesses said.
Chuck Johnson, an eyewitness to the accident, told Gothamist that he saw Ryo leaving the deli. “He came out of the store (deli) and by the time I turned back around… he was on the ground dead in 35, 40 seconds.” He also said that the patrol car was traveling 70 mph, and that its siren was not turn on until two more patrol cars put theirs on. The overhead lights were never turned on. And another witness said “The patrol car was traveling very fast without a siren on.” She did not think Ryo would cross the street if he had heard the siren. In addition, a witness (probably the same person from the previous statement) said “There was no time for him to run. It was too fast.” That is, at least two witnesses mentioned that the patrol car was driving very fast. And the person who lives in front of the accident scene said “If the headlight was on, I would notice from the reflection.”
In addition, a witness who saw the scene where Ryo was struck said “He flew into the air and fell on the ground. The patrol car could not stop and kept traveling a little bit and came back U turned.” And one witness who answered on ABC 7 news said “His head was busted real bad and his leg was twisted. Everybody was saying, you know, that was it for him. He was still breathing a little. He was taking deep breaths, trying to hold on. The police did nothing to try to help him and made everyone back up toward the sidewalk, and they just left him lying on the street.” This police officer’s action, “making everyone back up toward sidewalk,” was captured in a movie showing the interaction between the police and some witnesses, which was uploaded on YouTube after the accident. (Pix 11 news)
In response to these eyewitness reports, a police spokesman told the New York Times that their emergency lights had been activated, but he did not know if their siren was on. NYPD additionally added Ryo may not have noticed the NYPD cruiser because he was wearing a hoodie and listening to headphones at the time of the accident.
However, at the monthly meeting for the neighborhood, which Fuji TV (Japan) broadcast on their news, an NYPD spokesperson said “The siren was on. That means the light was on.” (The video has been deleted from their website, but I found the picture which captured the scene. The Japanese subtitle explains what he talked about.)
NYPD explained to the Oyamadas that the patrol car was traveling 35-39 miles per hour. In addition, they told them that they sometimes teach officers to turn off the light and siren near the scene of emergency call.
As you will notice in this summary, there are many differences between the police report, witnesses’ stories and the explanation given to the Oyamadas. Even Ryo’s direction crossing the street is different. (See the map below.) However, one of the most important issues would be whether the siren and/or light were activated or not. Also, the exact speed of the NYPD cruiser must be determined.
In addition, there are some contradictions in the witness story too. One witness said “The NYPD cruiser did not stop at the stop sign”, however, there is no stop sign at the intersection of 40th Avenue and 10th Street. The NYPD needs to release the surveillance video and their records to fill the gaps between the police report and witnesses’ stories and to prove their report is the truthful. Regrettably, however, they have refused to release them. I hope that the NYPD release the all information that they are withholding as soon as possible.
(Written by AM)
R.I.P Ryo Oyamada