Streetsblog reports on the NY Department of Motor Vehicle’s dismissal of tickets issued in fatal crash of Ally Liao. The Liao family chose attorney Steve Vaccaro to represent them.
An administrative law judge with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles threw out tickets issued by NYPD to the driver who ran over 3-year-old Allison Liao as she and her grandmother walked hand in hand in a Queens crosswalk.
The driver, identified by police as 44-year-old Ahmad Abu-Zayedeha, was turning left from Cherry Avenue onto Main Street in Flushing when he hit Allison on the afternoon of October 6, 2013. Though NYPD and the media initially said Allison “broke free” from her grandmother, video of the crash showed the pair walking together as Abu-Zayedeha approached from behind, striking Allison and pulling her underneath the SUV.
Abu-Zayedeha was summonsed for failure to yield and failure to exercise due care. Neither NYPD nor Queens District Attorney Richard Brown filed criminal charges against him for striking Allison. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Brown described the accident as a ‘tragedy’ and said he wouldn’t bring charges.”
On Thursday Allison’s parents, Amy Tam and Hsi-Pei Liao, learned that the DMV dismissed both tickets. The revelation came during a deposition of Abu-Zayedeh, according to attorney Steve Vaccaro, who is representing Tam and Liao in a civil suit. Allison’s family was not contacted by the DMV.
To read the full report, visit here: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2014/11/07/new-york-state-dmv-dismisses-tickets-to-driver-who-killed-toddler-allie-liao