What to Know
- Amanda Miner, 21, was out celebrating her birthday before the vehicle she was in slammed into a divider on the Williamsburg bridge Thursday
- The early morning crash split the car in two, ejecting her from the vehicle and tossing her onto the pavement
- Police said the driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old off-duty NYPD traffic cop Stefan Hoyte, is expected to be charged with DWI
An NYPD traffic agent has been arrested on charges including vehicular homicide and DWI in the death of a woman who was killed in a car crash on the Williamsburg Bridge after a night out celebrating her 21st birthday.
Police say the traffic enforcement agent, 26-year-old Stefan Hoyte, was off-duty at the time of the 3:15 a.m. crash Thursday. He was driving the vehicle; another off-duty NYPD traffic agent was in the passenger seat. Amanda Miner was in the backseat, the sources said.
It's unclear what caused Hoyt to lose control, but sources say the traffic agent was allegedly drunk and speeding when he lost control and crashed into a barrier, splitting the vehicle in two. Miner was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.
Her mother, Virginia Cabrera Miner, got the news early this morning.
"All I know is that my baby's gone, that's a tragedy," she said, her voice breaking as she spoke to News 4. "Yesterday was her 21st birthday and now I'm not gonna be able to see her graduate from college."
Miner's family she was studying social work at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and had big dreams.
"Ever since she was little, she was all about helping people standing up for the little guy's rights, for everyone," her mother said. "She could have changed this world. She changed mine. But now, we'll never get to see how far she could have gone."
Local
Hoyte and the other passenger in the car were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and are expected to be OK. Sources say the other passenger, also an off-duty traffic agent, is Miner's boyfriend. He suffered minor injuries.
In addition to vehicular homicide and DWI, Hoyte is also expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide and moving violations.
Video taken from a passing vehicle shows debris scattered across the roadway of the Manhattan side of the bridge. A chunk of the mangled car can be seen in the inner lanes.
Residents say people often go too fast on the bridge.
"People driving too fast on the Williamsburg," said Jimmy Salazar. "I don't know why, especially in this weather. You not supposed to do that."
