One Teen Dead, Two Injured In Possible Brooklyn Drag Racing Crash
April 3, 2019, 11:21 a.m.
19-year-old Claudio Poggy died after losing control of a car and crashing it into a tree in Brooklyn.
The intersection of Kings Highway and Avenue D
A teenager died after crashing into a tree in Flatlands, Brooklyn on Tuesday, injuring his two passengers after losing control of the car in a possible drag race.
Police responded to reports of a crash around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, at the intersection of Kings Highway and Avenue D, where they found a Mercedes Benz lying in the middle of the road, its hood completely crumpled. The car was not registered, according to the NY Daily News, and police have not determined its ownership; they have, however, identified the deceased driver as 19-year-old Claudio Poggy.
According to the NYPD, Poggy drove into a tree on the median separating Kings Highway from a service road. Although police did not confirm the car's speed to Gothamist, the Daily News reports that the speedometer was stuck at 130 mph.
Poggy had two other teens in the car with him: EMS transported a 16-year-old boy to Brookdale Hospital, where he was in critical condition as of Tuesday evening, and a 19-year-old boy to Kings County Hospital. Police say his injuries were minor.
The Daily News reports that the boys may have been drag racing when they crashed. Mark King, who witnessed the wreck, told the NY Post the same thing. Another local, Kimberly Stewart, told the Post that people often speed along this strip. "The lights all turn green at once and they go—they don't stop," she said. "This has been going on for years. We asked them [the city] for a camera about 15 years ago. They did nothing."
Police could not confirm the drag-racing detail, telling Gothamist that "the incident is under investigation." They haven't made any arrests, or determined whether or not alcohol played a role.
