A robbery suspect fleeing police crashed his BMW into another car in Queens Thursday, killing the woman inside and leaving a twisted wreck of vehicles on the pavement, according to police.
Derrick Perkins, 50, who police say is on parole for murder and has 10 priors, was being chased by an undercover police car near Linden Boulevard and 225th Street in Cambria Heights after allegedly stealing a phone from an auto body shop worker in Queens Village when he crashed into 78-year-old Roxina Clayton's vehicle.
Photos from the scene showed Clayton's smashed Saturn on the ground near a home and Perkins' mangled BMW on its side against a tree.
Perkins was taken into custody at the scene. A witness said authorities dragged Clayton out of her vehicle and tried to revive her but could not.
Surveillance video obtained by NBC 4 New York captures Perkins' BMW before the robbery that prompted the deadly chase. It shows him pull up on the side of the road near the body shop and get out of the vehicle. He walks down the street a bit, then crosses to the other side of the road before moving out of the frame.
The 26-year-old worker Perkins allegedly robbed was sitting outside the body shop when he approached him and asked if he wanted to buy a watch for $50, according to the body shop's owner. When the worker said no, he allegedly took the worker's phone out of his hand and told the worker not to follow him, the shop owner told NBC 4 New York.
He then got back in his SUV and took off.
It wasn't immediately clear what charges the suspect was expected to face.
