NEW YORK (Reuters) – A speeding car driven by a naked woman high on drugs hit and killed a pedestrian in the New York City borough of Staten Island, before flipping over and stopping in a parking lot, authorities said on Thursday.
The driver, Taliyah Taylor, 24, of Staten Island, was uninjured in Wednesday’s crash and pulled from the upside-down car with no clothes on by employees of a nearby hardware store, said William Smith, spokesman for the Staten Island District Attorney’s office.
She has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs and second-degree manslaughter, Smith said.
The impact of Taylor’s speeding Nissan hitting 41-year-old Larry Simon killed him instantly and sent him flying into above-ground electrical wires, severing his legs, authorities said.
Simon, a lawyer who had previously worked as a prosecutor in the Staten Island District Attorney’s office from 1997 to 2000, was waiting in the median to cross the street and never saw the car, Smith said.
After hitting Simon, Taylor’s car hit a vehicle whose occupants were not seriously injured.
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