A 22-year-old driver who tried to run a red light was charged Monday with the fatal crash that killed his 19-year-old passenger and critically injured another, police said, marking at least the third time he was arrested for a similar crime.
Hasim Smith was speeding down Richmond Avenue at about 10:45 p.m. on Sunday in a Mitsubishi sedan when he apparently tried to run a red light by Richmond Hill Road. Smith swerved to avoid another vehicle, which had the light and was making a left turn, and slammed into a traffic control post in the middle of the intersection, police said.
The 19-year-old woman sitting in the backseat, Alize Jorge, was killed in the crash.
An 18-year-old woman was thrown from the car and found on the pavement. She was taken to Staten Island University Hospital North in critical condition.
Smith is accused of fleeing the carnage and taking himself to Staten Island University Hospital where he eventually admitted he was the driver, according to police. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Smith remained in the hospital Monday. It was not immediately clear when he would be arraigned on the charges.
In June 2014, Smith was accused of trying to flee from police on Staten Island, crossing a double yellow line into oncoming traffic, running a stop sign and mounting the curb before colliding with other cars, according to court records.
Smith was arrested again in February, also on Staten Island, for allegedly trying to speed away from another police car in icy conditions, hitting a utility pole and a parked car, which then careened into a woman cleaning snow off her own car, according to court records. Smith then allegedly jumped from the car and tried to run.
Smith was also indicted in 2014 as part of a Staten Island drug bust, dubbed “Operation Jersey Boys” after the Jersey Street corridor in New Brighton where two dozen gang members allegedly dealt the drugs, including cocaine and heroin.
