Latest news with #AutumnDonnaAscencioRomero
CBS News
22-07-2025
- CBS News
Driver in deadly Chinatown crash arraigned on murder charges
The driver accused of hitting and killing a cyclist and pedestrian in Chinatown on over the weekend faced arraignment Tuesday. Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, faces a host of charges, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property, and leaving the scene. Romero was denied bail and will remain jailed. A grand jury will convene Thursday. Police say Romero was behind the wheel of a blue Chevrolet Malibu on Saturday at around 7:30 a.m. when it drove over the Manhattan Bridge at a high rate of speed and struck cyclist Kevin Scott Cruickshank, 55, and May Kwok, 63. Both were killed. The car also hit an empty NYPD van, and then flipped onto its passenger side before coming to rest back upright near Canal Street and Bowery, according to authorities. Prosecutors claim the passenger in the Malibu, Kennedy LeCraft, and Romero climbed out of the car, bloody. The two then allegedly tried to leave the scene, heading north on Broadway, but were arrested. Police say they recovered an open bottle of tequila in the passenger seat, and two 9mm pistols and ammo from the trunk of the car. Police say the Malibu was a rental that was supposed to be returned June 29, but wasn't. LeCraft, 22, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle.
New York Post
22-07-2025
- New York Post
Driver in NYC horror crash that killed 2 held without bail as twisted new details revealed
The driver of a stolen rental car left two bystanders 'severely dismembered' before fleeing the fatal crash soaked in blood – leaving an open bottle of tequila and two 9 mm guns in the wreck, Manhattan prosecutors revealed Tuesday. The new details emerged as 23-year-old Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero was arraigned on murder, manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges and ordered held without bail in the horrific Saturday morning crash that killed both bystanders in Chinatown. Romero and passenger Kennedy Lecraft, 22, who rented the blue 2024 Chevy Malibu and failed to return it, are charged in the caught-on-video crash that killed 63-year-old May Kwok and Chase bank manager and cycling enthusiast Kevin Scott Cruickshank, 55. 4 Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, is arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court for the death of two people. Curtis Means for 4 Two people died at Bowey and Canal Street after a stolen Chevy Malibu struck the bystanders. William Farrington Lecroft was arraigned Monday on charges of possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and was ordered held on $150,000 cash bail or a $300,000 bond. 4 Surveillance video shows the moment a stolen car plows into a 63-year-old woman sitting on a bench and a passing bicyclist. Obtained by the NY Post Romero was already facing charges for seriously injuring a 22-year-old woman in Brooklyn in another traffic mishap in April. 4 NYPD officers carry a person of interest in custody after two people were killed. William Farrington Disturbing footage of the Saturday morning crash shows Cruickshank riding his bike just moments before he and Kwok were brutally dismembered by the speeding vehicle.
New York Post
21-07-2025
- New York Post
Pair in stolen car that killed two in horrific NYC crash had illegal gun stashed in trunk: prosecutors
The stolen car that plowed into two bystanders and killed both in Chinatown was packing heat. Manhattan prosecutors said the reckless pair now charged in the horrific Saturday morning wreck had a gun stashed in the trunk of the stolen blue Chevy Malibu when it slammed into the victims and struck an NYPD van in a shocking caught-on-video tragedy. Accused driver Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, and 22-year-old passenger, Kennedy Lecraft, allegedly fled the scene of the horror but were nabbed by cops nearby. 4 A stolen Chevy Malibu plowed over two bystanders and struck an NYPD in a Saturday morning wreck in Chinatown. Obtained by the NY Post 4 Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, left, and Kennedy Lecraft, 22, are charged in a fatal wreck in Chinatown. William Farrington, Michael Nagle Romero, who was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, was charged with murder, manslaughter, possession of stolen property and gun possession after prosecutors said cops found a gun and ammunition in the stolen vehicle after the fatal crash. Lecraft was arraigned earlier on Monday on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Shamahs set bail for Lecraft at $150,000 cash or a $300,000 bond. 4 Kennedy Lecraft, 22, was charged with gun possession in the Saturday morning fatal crash in Chinatown. Michael Nagle 4 The early morning Chinatown crash Saturday killed May Kwok, 63, and Kevin Scott Cruickshank, 63. William Farrington Records show that Romero already had another pending criminal case tied to a traffic mishap in Brooklyn in April that left a 22-year-old woman seriously injured, but was free without bail. In the deadly Saturday morning incident, the Chevy had been rented last month but was overdue at an Enterprise Rent-a-Car lot by 17 days, law enforcement sources said. The car was filled with drugs and booze, according to sources. Cruickshank, who was riding his bicycle when he was struck and killed, was a safe-streets advocate who was active with Transportation Alternatives, a family spokesperson said. Kwok's brother told The Post his sister had struggled with mental illness in the past and was fond of relaxing on the same bench when she attended church in Chinatown.
New York Post
20-07-2025
- New York Post
Horrifying video shows moment stolen car fatally plows into NYC woman sitting on a bench in crash that left 2 dead
Disturbing video footage shows the horrific moment a stolen car fatally plows into two people in Chinatown on Saturday morning. The blue Chevy Malibu rams through a traffic median at Bowery and Canal streets in Manhattan around 7:30 a.m. and strikes a 30-something male cyclist and a 63-year-old woman sitting on a bench, shows the clip exclusively obtained by The Post. 3 The woman can be seen sitting on the bench just moments before she was fatally plowed by the stolen car. Obtained by the NY Post Advertisement 3 The stolen Chevy Malibu then enters the frame, killing two people. Obtained by the NY Post The tragic female victim, Mary Kwok, seems to entirely disappear from view after being struck, while the bike-riding man also appears to be obliterated by the impact. The Malibu, a rental reported stolen, then careens into an empty NYPD van, the chilling footage shows. The suspected driver of the car, Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero, 23, and her alleged passenger, 22-year-old Kennedy LaCraft, fled the scene but were picked up by cops nearby. Advertisement 3 The blue Chevrolet Malibu flew off the Manhattan Bridge, and fatally plowed into the elderly woman and a man on a bicycle, cops said. William Farrington Drugs and alcohol were found in the car. Romero also has a pending Brooklyn court case from an April 13 wreck that struck a bystander.
