Man Dragged for 2 Blocks in Deadly Drunk-Driving Road-Rage in Bay Ridge

A man was killed after being hit by a car and dragged for two blocks by a drunk driver in an apparent road-rage incident in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn Thursday night, according to the New York Police Department and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

Around 9:15 p.m. Thursday, David Cruz, 55, of Bay Ridge, was drunk and driving his Ford E-350 van, when he swerved out of his lane and hit another vehicle. The passenger of the other vehicle, 65-year-old Gavriel Mardakhayev of Brighton Beach, got out of the car, which was being driven by his wife, and attempted to confront Cruz. When Mardakhayev walked in front of Cruz’s van, Cruz accelerated, striking Mardakhayev and dragging him for two blocks, until 67th Street.

Mardakhayev was transported to Lutheran Medical Center, where he died at 9:30 p.m.

Cruz was arrested and submitted to a chemical analysis test more than four hours after the incident. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .109%, well above the .08% level for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) in New York.

Cruz was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of driving under the influence, and reckless driving.