- Target:
- Manhattan District Attorney
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.nydailynews.com
On the busy morning of January 22nd, a China Chalet van stopped to make a food delivery in Chinatown on East Broadway. The driver got out of the van and left it unattended, but on, idling on the streets.
During that time the van mysteriously rolled backwards and jumped the curb of the sidewalk and plowed into a group of 14 pre-kindergarten children on their way back to school from a trip to the library. Due to negligence the China Chalet van killed two children; 3 year old, Diego Martinez and 4 year old, Hayley Ng while also injuring 5 to 6 other children.
The driver of the van claimed he was not in the van when it rammed into the kids, but admitted to leaving it running. The driver was never issued a summons or ticket for his negligent behavior. The District Attorney classified this as an 'Accident' without a thorough investigation.
We, the undersigned, request the Manhattan District Attorney to investigate this infraction and to issue all tickets or summons concerning all parking violations incurred by the driver: double parking, leaving an idling van, etc.
The lives of two innocent children were taken due to a person’s negligence. Nothing was done. No ticket was issued. No suspension of his license. No one plans to kill another person. But someone is still responsible and therefore must be held accountable.
Something must be done so as to prevent another accident of this nature from occurring. Chinatown needs to see action taken for the safety of all children and pedestrians. This is a family community.
Update: I would like to Thank everyone for their support. The DA has concluded that they will not press charges due to the limitation of the current laws.
Next steps for the family is to see if we can get NY to implement laws to prevent this type of incident or at least make it so that there will be consequences attach to incidents due to negligence.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Investigate the Chinatown van crash that killed two children petition to Manhattan District Attorney was written by May Cheung and is in the category Children's Rights at GoPetition.