Bruns told police she had a history of seizures and suffered one while behind the wheel in March, causing the accident that killed Joshua Lew, one, and Abigail Blumenstein, four.
Authorities said she ignored doctors' orders to avoid driving, leading to the Park Slope tragedy on March 5
She faced up to 15 years in prison on a range of charges, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, assault and reckless driving.
Bruns was freed on $75,000 bond in September
Tony Award-winning actress Ruthie Ann Blumenstein and her four-year-old daughter, Abigail, and Lauren Lew and her one-year-old son, Joshua, were struck as they crossed the street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, a neighborhood full of families.
Both children were killed.
Not only did Blumenstein lose her four-year-old daughter, but she also lost her unborn child in her 39th week of pregnancy.
Moments before the crash, the two kids and their mothers had just gotten off the bus and were crossing the street when Bruns who was driving a white Volvo sped through the intersection at 9th Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, striking the families.
Horrifying video captured at the scene shows the white car rolling into the crosswalk as the unsuspecting pedestrians are struck.
Blumenstein, who goes by the stage name Ruthie Ann Miles, won a featured actress Tony in 2015 for her role as Lady Thiang in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I.'
The crash prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio, a traffic safety advocate who lives in Park Slope, to propose changes to state laws that would extend and expand speed enforcement cameras around school zones, escalate fines for repeat offenders up to $350, and strip vehicle registration for dangerous drivers.
A FDNY source told the Daily News that another medical emergency call was placed to Brun's home December 22, and yet another on November 19- both were regarding a cardiac condition.
Her health issues had become such that this past January she went on medical leave from her job at ClearCaptions.
She returned in February when she was given medical clearance, according to a source familiar with the situation.
In September 2017, Bruns allegedly struck a pedestrian in Long Island City, Queens.
However the NYPD highway safety cop failed to document the crash properly, which would have flagged her driving record, according to the Daily News in a report last month.
Additionally in the past two years she accrued four speed violations and four red light violations.
Bruns told local authorities that she has no recollection of the incident and was unaware of what she had done until she was notified.
Toxicology results came in during the crash. Bruns came up negative for possible drug or alcohol traces.
No comments:
Post a Comment