Drunk Driver Who Killed Bike Tour Cyclist Sentenced, DA Says

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — The drunk driver who ran over and killed a cyclist during the NYC Century Bike Tour in Borough Park last year was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors announced.

Abel Antonio Pina-Morocho was sentenced in Brooklyn Criminal Court Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to mowing into Nancy Pease at the corner of 12th Avenue near 39th Street the morning of Sept. 10, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

Pina-Morocho, who reportedly had been drinking margaritas and Coors Lights before the accident, slammed his Dodge Caravan into Pease, four other cyclists and a car as he tried to pull out of a parking spot about 9 a.m., said prosecutors.

Pease, 55, was pulled underneath the minivan when Pina-Morocho lurched forward, ran over another cyclist’s leg and jerked to a stop, prosecutors said.

Pedestrians then pulled the drunk driver out of his car and held him until police arrived at the crash, said prosecutors.

Pina-Morocho was found to have a blood alcohol level of .278, and was charged with drunk driving, vehicular assault and driving without a license the day after the crash, prosecutors said.

Pease was rushed to Maimonides Hospital where doctors tried to treat her damaged liver and spleen, the internal bleeding in her abdomen and a traumatic brain injury, but she lapsed into a coma and died on Sept. 22, prosecutors said.

Pina-Morocho pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide earlier this month and was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.