The fast and the unprosecutable

 

 NY Daily News

It’s a cat and mouse game — but the mice drive too fast and recklessly and are not always held accountable, even when cops nab them.

“You can’t catch me. You’re stupid,” driver Oscar Malik, 28, allegedly taunted out-of-earshot cops in a police cruiser who spotted him as he roared on the Long Island Expressway in March 2021 at a speed police believe hit 117 mph.

They did catch him, but off the road. Police traced and arrested Malik with help from the Instagram feed that recorded his high-speed drive — which officers downloaded before he deleted his account.

Malik got the last laugh in August, when the charges against him were dismissed and his case was sealed because Queens prosecutors didn’t hand over evidence to his defense lawyer in accord with the state’s discovery reform law, said law enforcement sources. The Queens DA’s office did not comment on the matter.

“This is very disheartening,” said Insp. Sylvester Ge, head of the NYPD’s Highway Division. “And it’s an injustice.”

It was another blow to the NYPD’s unceasing race against organized reckless driving, which takes several forms —ranging from highway drag races to impromptu gatherings where drivers spin donuts at intersections, parking lots or traffic plazas.

There’s no data on how many people die from such driving, though it’s clear speeding — an element of drag racing — is a factor in numerous roadway deaths. Speeding factored in 31 of of 159 New York City traffic deaths in 2022 for which data is available — a rate of 21%.

A notorious death case involving drag racing occurred Nov. 20, 2020, when Daniel Crawford, 53, died on his way at Queens Hospital Center, where he worked as a phlebotomist. Crawford’s car was T-boned by one of two drivers drag racing each other.

Both drivers believed involved in the race that killed Crawford were indicted in February. Alamin Ahmed and Mir Fahmid, both 24, face murder and manslaughter charges. Prosecutors said the duo, out celebrating Fahmid’s birthday, were seen on video getting gas at a service station at Main St. and Union Turnpike, then drag racing down the turnpike. Their cases are pending.

Drag races and other gatherings are often organized on the internet. “Some of it is posted on social media — they talk about it beforehand, what they plan to do, which helps us,” Ge said. “And they post videos afterwards. So, some of it is organized, with rules, like no brakes allowed.

“Or it’s two drivers who see each other on the highway — one starts going and the other one decides, ‘Let’s have a race,’” Ge added. “They really have no regard for public safety.”