ARIEL RUSSO - 4 yo (6/13) - / Charged: Franklin Reyes - New York, NY

Grandmother Of 4-Year-Old Killed In UWS SUV Crash: ‘I’m Devastated’
Still Recovering, Katia Gutierez In Tears As She Leaves St. Luke's Hospital

June 26, 2013 8:46 PM



NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The grandmother of the little girl killed in a devastating crash on the Upper West Side was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

The heartbroken woman was still struggling to cope with her loss, CBS 2’s Weijia Jiang reported.

Katia Gutierez was wheeled out on a stretcher from St. Luke’s Hospital on Wednesday. The fact that she was going home was a sign of progress, but the emotional setback she will face is almost unbearable.

“I’m devastated,” she said.

On June 4, she was walking her granddaughter, Ariel Russo, to school when a teenage driver being chased by police mounted the sidewalk on Amsterdam Avenue.

His SUV struck both of them, killing the 4-year-old.

Gutierez could only sob on Wednesday.

The accident exposed a problem in the city’s Emergency Medical Services dispatch. It took emergency responders eight minutes to reach Gutierez and Russo. By then, the little girl had died.

While it’s unclear if the girl would have survived in any case, FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano said a worker was distracted.

However, the EMS workers union said the city’s new 911 system failed.

Russo’s family agrees and has filed a $20 million lawsuit over the delayed response.

As the legal battle plays out, so does a personal one for Gutierez.

“She’s getting better physically but, emotionally, I don’t know. When she walks into that apartment it’s going to trigger memories,” said Alan Russo, Ariel’s father.

Gutierez was taken home in an ambulance, her leg still broken, but the most devastating wound – heartache — may never heal.

The city admits there are bugs with the new 911 system, but insists in Ariel’s case it was a person — not a computer — that made a mistake.


http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/06/26/grandmother-of-4-year-old-killed-in-uws-suv-crash-im-devastated/

DOI: Human Error Caused Delayed Response In UWS Crash That Killed 4-Year-Old Girl


Ariel Russo Struck, Killed By SUV In June; Teenage Driver Charged December 19, 2013 8:37 PM


The report, released Thursday, concludes that human error was to blame for the delayed response to the crash that killed Ariel Russo and seriously injured her grandmother on the Upper West Side.

After learning of the investigation’s findings, Sofia Russo, Ariel’s mother, called for the Manhattan district attorney’s office to consider criminal charges against the dispatcher, Edna Pringle.

“I’m just like shocked right now,” Sofia Russo told WCBS 880’s Jim Smith reported.



“My daughter was depending on you,” she continued, directing her comments to Pringle. “Where were you? Why didn’t you see it? Why didn’t you pick it up?”

Ariel Russo died after an SUV jumped a curb on Amsterdam Avenue while the little girl was walking to school with her grandmother, Katia Gutierez.

Authorities say the driver of the SUV, Franklin Reyes, had only a learner’s permit and was being chased by police just prior to the crash. He has been charged with manslaughter and unlawful fleeing in a motor vehicle.

EXTRA: Read The Full Report
Records showed a four-minute delay in dispatching first responders to the scene.
It was nearly eight minutes after the crash by the time firefighters arrived.

At the time of the crash, the FDNY had been on the defensive about its new 911 system. It went online just before the incident, and there had been a number of outages.

“We undertook this investigation because of the public safety implications,” DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement. “The evidence showed no technical issues with the system on June 4. City responses to Ariel ranged from approximately two through eight minutes, not withstanding the mishandling at EMD of the calls related to Ariel. Several outages on other dates, which played no role on June 4, showed the need for added staffing, training and computer hardware.”

According to the report, police were on scene moments after the crash, arresting Reyes and immediately calling for ambulances.

“I need you to rush a bus (ambulance), 97th and Amsterdam! We have two pedestrians struck,” one radio transmission said, according to the report.

“Get me a bus. There is a little girl unconscious!” said another.

About two minutes after the crash, Gerard Lambert, an off-duty firefighter who was on his way to work, walked upon the scene and stopped. He then began treating Russo with the help of officers and another Good Samaritan.


According to the report, Lambert told officers to “put a rush” on the ambulance because of the gravity of Russo’s condition.

“It was fortuitous he was going to work,” Gill Hearn said. “What is new information here is that there were already responders on the scene, not withstanding the mishap at the emergency dispatch center.”

The emergency call, which had been transferred from the NYPD dispatch center, wasn’t received by the EMSCAD system until four minutes after the crash, the report said.
According to the report, Pringle, the dispatcher, went on a break after the Russo call came in, claiming the job was not in the system and that she didn’t see it.

“It would have, could have, should have been seen by the operator,” Gill Hearn told reporters, including CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

The dispatcher who took over for Pringle when she went on break saw the call when she logged into the system and sent first responders to the scene, the report said.

Pringle later accepted a command discipline after her supervisor determined that the Russo job was “on the Relay screen for four minutes without being processed,” the report said.

The DOI noted that Pringle used her cellphone five times before the Russo call came in even though cellphone use is not allowed during a dispatch shift.

“We found it inexplicable,” Gill Hearn said. “The system was working; her terminal was working. Her testimony that it was not there is belied by other evidence.”

Russo’s family has filed a $20 million lawsuit over the delayed response.

Earlier this month, the City Council passed an emergency-response bill in honor of Russo. The legislation requires the FDNY to submit a monthly report detailing response times for emergency calls — from when a 911 call is received to when a first responder arrives at the scene.

“That will help the city determine how to best deploy limited resources and how we can facilitate swifter emergency responses,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.

The City Council also voted to rename West 97th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway “Ariel Russo Way.”


http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/12/19/doi-human-error-to-blame-for-delayed-response-in-uws-crash-that-killed-4-year-old-girl/

Judge puts teen accused of running over Ariel Russo back in jail


By Rebecca Rosenberg

August 6, 2014 | 9:29pm


Franklin Reyes Jr., with his father in court Wednesday, was tossed back in jail for his alleged role in the burglary of a deceased woman's apartment. Photo: Steven Hirsch

In an emotionally charged hearing, the teen charged with mowing down Ariel Russo, 4, on the Upper West Side was tossed back in the slammer Wednesday because of new charges that he helped his dad loot a deceased woman’s apartment.

When court officers cuffed Franklin Reyes, 18, friends and family of the slain girl erupted in cheers in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The mother of Franklin Reyes Jr. was removed from the courtroom after yelling at the judge.
Photo: Steven Hirsch

Reyes’ mother, Lilia, shot back from the other side of the gallery, “He’s innocent. He’s a kid, it was an accident!”

To that, a Russo family member shouted, “She was only 4 years old!”

Court officers unsuccessfully tried to restore maintain order.

“My son didn’t plan it! He was a regular ordinary kid. He didn’t plan to kill anyone,” she wailed as court officers, trying to restore order, escorted her from the courtroom.

“For God sakes, have mercy. He was only 17. Please!”

Reyes was fleeing a routine traffic stop when he struck Russo and her grandmother as they walked to the girl’s school in June 2013, authorities say.

He was rearrested last month while out on bail and charged with looting jewelry, shoes and wine from a pad in a Chelsea building where his father is the superintendent. His father was also charged in the theft.

Justice Gregory Carro raised Reyes’ bail from $25,000 to $50,000.

“Someone who is willing to engage in criminal conduct while out on bail is a flight risk,” he said.

Little Ariel Russo, 4, was struck and killed in 2013.

Defense lawyer Martin Schmukler insisted his client wasn’t guilty of the theft charge. “It’s just bad luck, that’s all,” he said.

Assistant District Attorney Vera Varshavsky asked Carro to withdraw youthful-offender status, which would grant Reyes a more lenient sentence if he’s convicted in the death of Russo and seal his record. But the judge didn’t address the issue in open court Wednesday.

It’s unclear whether a previous plea offer of 15 months to 4 years if Reyes copped to the manslaughter and assault raps is off the table as a result of the new charge.
He faces 5 to 15 years behind bars if convicted as an adult in Russo’s death.

Russo’s family wants the judge to withdraw the youthful-offender offer.

“For the family to make statements such as ‘He’s a child, give him another chance,’ is outrageous,” said Scott Rynecki, the civil attorney for the tragic girl’s parents, Alan and Sofia.

“He didn’t give Ariel another chance. He didn’t give Ariel’s grandmother another chance. His actions were clearly heinous.”

A tearful Sofia was outraged by the outburst from Reyes’ mother.

“I’m still in shock,” she said outside the courthouse. “Her child is still alive and I had to see my child laying dead on a hospital stretcher … I hope that next time she’ll be more respectful of me and my pain.”

Reyes is due back in court Sept. 24 for a trial.


http://nypost.com/2014/08/06/judge-puts-teen-accused-of-running-over-ariel-russo-back-in-jail/

Teen driver who killed 4-year-old busted again for reckless driving

By Natasha Velez, Lia Eustachewich and Josh Saul

September 3, 2014 | 1:36pm

Photo: Steven Hirsch

The teen road menace who fatally struck 4-year-old Ariel Russo while fleeing police in a family SUV last summer, was busted behind the wheel again — this time dragging a cop 100 feet, officials said Wednesday.

Still-unlicensed driver Franklin Reyes Jr., 18, out on bail in the Russo case, was pulled over at West 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Sunday night before leading cops on another wild chase, officials said.

Russo’s parents were outraged on Wednesday, wondering how Reyes could have been left free to wreak more havoc after killing their daughter.

“He should definitely go away for 15 years. I’m hoping he gets 15 years!” dad Alan Russo fumed. “Fifteen years from now he’ll still be alive and my daughter won’t be.”

Ariel RussoPhoto: AP

Mom Sophia Russo choked back tears, saying she’d wanted to cut Reyes some slack before he was arrested two more times since killing Ariel.

“In the very beginning I thought maybe he was a good kid who made just one mistake but when I saw his demeanor in the courtroom I started to feel a little differently,” the tearful mom said.

The latest wild incident involving Reyes began after he made an illegal left turn at about 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to a Manhattan criminal complaint.

Reyes stopped but wouldn’t put the car in park, authorities said.

When Officer Edward O’Connell reached inside through the black Jeep’s driver’s-side door to put the vehicle into park, Reyes hit the gas, dragging the cop along, authorities said.

“The defendant then drove away, while Officer O’Connell’s arm was still inside the vehicle, dragging Officer O’Connell approximately 100 feet,” O’Connell’s partner, Richard Natal, wrote in the complaint.

O’Connell suffered bruises to his left wrist and elbow.

Reyes hit another car on 179th St. between Amsterdam and Audubon avenues and then almost struck a parking attendant, according to the complaint.

That’s where cops finally caught up with Reyes and arrested him, but not without a fight, authorities said.

“When I attempted to arrest the defendant, he refused to put his hands behind his back, swung his arms up and down, and kicked his legs,” Natal wrote.

He was arraigned the next day and hit with fresh assault, reckless endangerment and driving, unlicensed driving and fleeing a police officer charges. His bail was immediately revoked.

Even before Sunday night’s bust, Reyes had been in trouble since killing Russo and severely injuring her grandmother in the June 4, 2013 crash at West 97 Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

He and his dad, also named Franklin Reyes, were arrested at the building where the father worked as a super at 252 W. 21st St.

On July 17, they allegedly broke into an apartment belonging to a woman who had died and stole a Nikon camera, a $500 Omega watch, $10,000 in jewelry and $2,000 in cash, law enforcement sources said.

He was arraigned on that case Wednesday and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro unloaded on Reyes, calling him an “extreme flight risk.”

“This defendant certainly has demonstrated his unwillingness to submit to authority. The first time, with grave consequences. The second time, when police are attempting to pull him over, he again causes physical injury,” said Carro.

Defense lawyer Martin Schmukler agreed that Reyes shouldn’t have driven the car but said he did so because he was “lonely.”

“His mother had driven him to the home of a relative. She left the vehicle behind to go somewhere else. The other occupants of the home left … and the defendant, feeling lonely and by himself, felt the best thing he could do was just simply take the car and go home,” said Schmukler.

“His better judgement failed him and he got into the car.”


http://nypost.com/2014/09/03/teen-driver-who-killed-4-year-old-busted-again-for-reckless-driving/

Franklin Reyes, teen driver charged in Ariel Russo’s death, busted for dragging cop after traffic stop

Reyes, who already faces manslaughter charges in the 4-year-old girl's hit-and-run, was arrested Sunday after cops pulled him over at W. 181st St. and Amsterdam Ave., according to the new criminal complaint. ‘He has no remorse. He’s not sorry. He didn’t change,’ Sofia Russo, little Ariel’s mom, told the Daily News.

BY Shayna Jacobs, Barry Paddock, Bill Hutchinson

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 10:49 AM
Updated: Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 11:17 PM


The teen menace accused of mowing down 4-year-old Ariel Russo while fleeing police has been busted in another getaway attempt in which a cop was drag 100 feet.

Franklin Reyes Jr., 18, is facing new charges that shockingly mirror the high-profile hit-and-run just 14 months ago that left the innocent little girl dead and her grandmother severely injured.

Reyes’ arrest Sunday left Ariel’s parents, Sofia and Alan Russo, angry and in disbelief.

“He has no remorse. He’s not sorry. He didn’t change,” an angry Sofia Russo told the Daily News Wednesday. “He killed my daughter. He hurt my mother. And he’s repeated the same action.”

The latest charges being lodged against the defiant Reyes stem from an incident Sunday evening — less than 5 miles from where Ariel was killed while walking to school June 4, 2013.
Sofia and Alan Russo, parents of Ariel Russo, talk to the New York Daily News on Wednesday after the girl's accused killer, Franklin Reyes, was arrested Sunday for driving without a license and dragging a cop 100 feet.  
Cops pulled Reyes over at 6 p.m. after he failed to signal for a left turn at W. 181st St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Washington Heights, according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday.

When police ordered Reyes to put his car in park, he hit the gas, the complaint reveals.

Officer Edward O’Connell reached inside the car as Reyes sped off. O’Connell, assigned to the 34th Precinct stationhouse, was dragged about 100 feet, according to the complaint.

The cop suffered “contusions to his left wrist and elbow,” the complaint says.
Franklin Reyes, shown Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, is already facing manslaughter charges in the death of Ariel Russo. 

Reyes continued driving and struck another vehicle between Audubon and Amsterdam Aves., authorities said.

He then nearly hit a pedestrian on Audubon Ave. before abandoning the car, the complaint charges. As he tried to run away, he was encountered by police Officer Richard Natal, but he didn’t give up without a fight.

“When I attempted to arrest the defendant, he refused to put his hands behind his back, swung his arms up and down, and kicked his legs,” Natal wrote in a report.

Reyes was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless driving and unlicensed driving.
Reyes was arrested again this past weekend when police tried to stop him while driving. He allegedly dragged a police officer 100 feet.  


He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment on Monday.

Reyes was expected to be arraigned Wednesday on the new indictment before Justice Gregory Carro — the same judge overseeing his manslaughter case.

Before Reyes’ latest trouble, Carro had considered giving Reyes a legal break, offering him a maximum of four years behind bars and a chance as a youthful offender to have his case eventually sealed.

But Ariel’s parents and their lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said Reyes — who is also charged with looting a dead woman’s W. 21st St. apartment with his father in June — doesn’t deserve mercy.
Courtesy Russo Family Ariel Russo, a 4-year-old girl walking to school last year with her grandmother, was killed in June 2013 on the Upper West Side. 

“Clearly, he is not entitled to youthful offender treatment and that offer should be revoked. He should stand trial in every case that he has,” Rubenstein said.

“This case should set an example to young people all over the country that if you commit these acts you will go to jail and you will go to jail a long time.”

Sofia and Alan Russo said hearing about Reyes’ arrest left them reliving the nightmare of their daughter’s death.

“I was in denial this morning when I found out,” said Sofia Russo. “I was like, ‘It can’t be. It has to be a mistake.’”
Sofia Russo, Ariel Russo's mom, talks about her daughter's accused hit-run killer.  



“I was hurt. I was thinking, ‘If someone does something once and they say they’re sorry and they do the exact same again, they weren't sorry,” the mother said. “His disregard for life, people, pedestrians, people in the street — there's no remorse. It's so dangerous.”

She said her mother, Katia Gutierrez, was permanently disable by Russo’s recklessness and had to give up her job as a patient representative at Roosevelt Hospital.

“It’s so hard, physically, emotionally, financially,” Sofia Russo said. “She was a really hard working woman. She had a strong work ethic. It’s painful for her not to be able to work.”

She found it more than a coincidence that she’s had a recurring nightmare of Reyes running over her 7-year-old son, Jacob.

“I keep having this nightmare over and over that Jacob ... and I get hit by a car — and it’s him driving,” Sofia Russo said. “It’s just this terrible nightmare I have over and over. And it’s like it came true — he did something again!”

Alan Russo vowed to continue attending all of Reyes’ court hearings to assure justice is served for his daughter.

“My daughter is in a box and he’s free to do bad things,” the father said. “He took more than just her life — he took my life and my wife’s life.”

What a punk-ass this is sounding more like MURDER to me, 2nd degree ??

Second Degree Murder: Definition

Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as: 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion"; or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life. Second-degree murder may best be viewed as the middle ground between first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.
- See more at: http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/second-degree-murder-overview.html#sthash.IWjMEwSl.dpuf

So Cal, this POS is a menace to society and should be in a Cage.

WTF is wrong with our justice system?