A Brooklyn motorist will spend 14 years in prison for intentionally running over a cyclist who allegedly robbed his car in 2019.
Korey Johnson, 41, of Ocean Hill, was sentenced Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter last month, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“This defendant’s extreme reaction when he allegedly witnessed a relatively minor, non-violent crime cost a man his life,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Rather than reporting the incident to police, the defendant deliberately chased the victim in his car, striking and killing him, while endangering everyone else on the road. He has now been brought to justice.”
According to the DA’s office, Johnson said that early on the morning of Sept. 2, 2019, he spotted 47-year-old Donald Robertson breaking into his parked car on Broadway near Ellery Street. He confronted Robertson, and the two fought.
Robertson then tried to flee the scene on his bike, but Johnson gave chase in his Jeep Grand Cherokee.
He allegedly sped down Broadway and swerved into oncoming traffic as he pursued Robertson, then intentionally drove into the cyclist — crashing his car into a row of parked cars and flipping his own vehicle.
Robertson was found in the street badly injured and was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, where he died from severe blunt force trauma, according to the DA.
Cops arrested Johnson on the scene, and he was later charged with second-degree murder and first-degree reckless endangerment. Per court documents, the murder charge was reduced to manslaughter as part of a plea deal. After his sentence, Johnson will spend five years on post-release supervision.
