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An undercover federal agent who ran over and killed a beloved Fort Greene mother last year was rushing to get to a bathroom, bombshell new testimony revealed on Friday.
Joel Murphy — the Treasury Department agent who fatally struck Vespa-riding Aileen McKay-Dalton last July — admitted that he ran a yellow light at the intersection of DeKalb and Clinton avenues in haste to get to a restroom during a break in a surveillance stakeout.
“[The traffic light] changed from green to yellow as I entered the intersection,” said Murphy, contradicting at least two prior witnesses who testified that Murphy ran a red light during the 5:25 pm crash.
In later testimony, Murphy seemed to undermine his contention that he was traveling at the speed limit and had not entered the intersection after the light turned red.
“I was proceeding through the intersection [and] saw something out of the corner of my eye,” said Murphy, who was testifying at a Department of Motor Vehicles proceeding to determine if his driver’s license, which was suspended after the accident, will be restored. “I slammed on my brakes and collided with the Vespa scooter.”
Under this scenario, Murphy is suggesting that McKay-Dalton started entering the intersection while she had a red light, slamming into Murphy’s Ford Explorer.
Murphy declined to comment after the hearing, which stems not only from the accident, but his failure to file an accident report within 10 days of the crash.
No criminal charges were ever brought against Murphy, but widower Michael Dalton has brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murphy and the Treasury Department, which has not revealed what the agent actually does and why he was on a surveillance mission on the day of the accident.
Shortly after his wife’s death, Dalton quit his high-level job at the British bank Barclays to raise the couple’s three children, ages 4, 7, and 9.
©2011 Community Newspaper Group
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