He thought he hit a pothole — not a human being.
So says the lawyer for an alleged hit-and-run cabbie who cops say ran over and dragged a woman after she inexplicably laid down on a Stuyvesant Town street early Saturday.
Yellow cabbie John Bangura, 68, is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the crash that killed Kenya Flores, 44, of the Bronx.
“We are talking about 3:30 in the morning and he thought it was just a pothole. We need more information than what they have said here,” Bangura’s attorney, Marnie Zien, said at his arraignment Sunday.
WOMAN LAYING DOWN IN STREET FATALLY STRUCK BY TAXI IN MANHATTAN
Police say Bangura ran over Flores on First Ave. near E. 17th St. Moments earlier, Flores had laid down in a bus lane for unknown reasons.
Bangura, who wore a black and red checkered flannel shirt, a black jacket and sunglasses, stood quietly in the courtroom during his arraignment.
Zien described him as a nearly 35-year veteran cabbie with no criminal record who returned to work the next day.
“The person was laying in the street but they haven’t given us any information as to whether she was alive or dead at that point,” Zien said. “Was she struck by another vehicle beforehand, is that what happened?”
“There has to be more information out there. Something led to her to be laying in the street before this occurred.”
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Durkin said Bangura took off after dragging Flores.
“While he stated he hit a pothole, that statement is inconsistent with the evidence in this case,” Durkin said.
Judge Guy Mitchell set Bangura’s bail at $5,000.
Bangura’s wife sat alongside his daughter and granddaughter, covering her eyes with one hand as she sobbed throughout the proceeding.
His family members declined comment as they left the courthouse.
