By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 9/17/2026
Category: NYPD Accountability / Public Safety / Civil Rights
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
New York’s attorney general has opened a special investigation into the death of Milagros Bonet, more than three years after she died from injuries suffered when an NYPD cruiser jumped a Bronx curb and struck pedestrians.
The Office of Special Investigation announced the case Wednesday. It said an autopsy determined that Bonet’s May 4, 2023 death was caused by injuries from the October 6, 2022 collision at Hoe and Westchester avenues.
Bonet was 65. She had been walking to a supermarket with relatives when the marked police vehicle hit her and other people on the sidewalk, according to her family and earlier local reporting. Her five-year-old granddaughter was among those injured. Bonet’s daughter, Angelica Diaz, suffered injuries that left her using a wheelchair, the family said.
The attorney general’s office said the officers were responding to a 911 call about a stolen vehicle at about 3 p.m. Their cruiser had its lights and siren activated when it collided with another car, went out of control and struck the pedestrians. Several people were hurt.
The state’s statement calls those facts preliminary. It does not identify the officer who was driving, say how fast the cruiser was traveling or explain whether the vehicle entered the intersection against a traffic signal.
Bonet spent months in intensive care and showed signs of recovery before she died, ABC7 New York reported in 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers involved. The NYPD declined to discuss the crash with News 12 at the time because of the pending litigation.
The timing of the state investigation leaves a basic unanswered question: why did the fatality review begin more than three years after Bonet’s death and nearly four years after the collision?
The attorney general’s office said it opened the case after receiving the autopsy report linking Bonet’s death to the crash. It did not say when the report arrived, why the determination took years or whether any law-enforcement agency had previously referred the case for review.
Under Executive Law Section 70-b, the Office of Special Investigation reviews incidents in which a police or peace officer may have caused a person’s death through an act or omission. When its initial assessment indicates that an officer may have caused the death, the office conducts a full investigation.
Opening an investigation is not a finding that the officer committed a crime or violated department policy. The inquiry is meant to gather evidence and determine whether further action is warranted.
The case also places the NYPD’s emergency-driving rules under scrutiny. Police officers responding to urgent calls may operate with lights and sirens and may receive limited exemptions from traffic rules. Those privileges do not answer what happened at this intersection or whether the response was handled safely.
Bonet’s family has already waited years for an official accounting. Investigators now must establish the cruiser’s speed, the traffic signal sequence, what the officers knew about the reported stolen vehicle, whether supervisors reviewed the pursuit and why the fatal link was not acted on sooner.
The attorney general’s office has not given a deadline for completing the investigation. Until it releases its findings, the public record shows a fatal police-involved crash, a family seeking accountability and a delayed state review whose outcome remains open.
Sources
ABC7 New York: Lawsuit Filed One Year After NYPD Cruiser Jumps Curb
Bronx Times: Cops Report Bronx Pedestrian Killed in 2022 NYPD Vehicle Collision
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