Driver Charged After Fatal Bay Ridge Backing Crash
A driver backing a sedan hit 85-year-old pedestrian Norman Fruchter at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, 2022, and police later charged Jorge Gonzalez-Cadme in the fatal Bay Ridge crash.
What We Know
At about 10:13 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2022, a driver backing a sedan at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Bay Ridge hit 85-year-old pedestrian Norman Fruchter. Police told Brooklyn Paper that investigators later identified the driver as Jorge Gonzalez-Cadme and said he was reversing eastbound on 68th Street when he hit Fruchter as Fruchter walked from the north side of the street to the south side. Emergency responders took Fruchter to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead on Jan. 4, 2023. Police charged Gonzalez-Cadme on July 24 with criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, imprudent speed, and unsafe backing.
Late-night crash on 68th Street
The official record places the crash at about 10:13 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2022, at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Brooklyn, where one pedestrian was killed.
Brooklyn Paper reported that police responded to a 911 call for a vehicle collision involving a pedestrian and found Norman Fruchter, 85, lying in the road with head trauma. Emergency responders took him to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead on Jan. 4, 2023.
Police told Brooklyn Paper that a later investigation found Jorge Gonzalez-Cadme was reversing eastbound on 68th Street when he hit Fruchter. The article reported that the driver remained at the scene and was not injured.
A Bay Ridge block by Owl's Head Park
The crash happened at 68th Street and Bliss Terrace in Bay Ridge. Brooklyn Paper described the location as just south of Owl's Head Park.
Investigators focused on backing
The official crash record lists backing unsafely as a contributing factor and identifies the driver's pre-crash movement as backing. The vehicle record also lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor for the driver.
Brooklyn Paper reported that police charged Gonzalez-Cadme with criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, imprudent speed, and unsafe backing of a vehicle.
Fruchter was remembered as an education and civil rights advocate
Brooklyn Paper reported that family and friends remembered Fruchter for work in education reform aimed at fair public education for children of all ethnic backgrounds. NYU Steinhardt Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools called him "a change-making school leader, community organizer, and academic."
Community members gathered at Owl's Head Park after his death. Council Member Justin Brannan wrote, "Confronting traffic violence also means taking personal responsibility + safe driving habits. It will take all of us."