NYC driver who ran over onlooker while doing donuts accused of more auto crimes

A driver who crashed into an onlooker while doing donuts in the middle of a crowd in Lower Manhattan two years ago has since been accused of more crimes behind the wheel. Advocates for street safety say his record shows the need for harsher penalties to keep reckless drivers off the road.

Tyler Greer, 24, was caught on video in March 2022 crashing his souped-up red Infiniti into the onlooker, who was trying to capture a dramatic shot of the stunt during a meetup of street racing fans. Greer pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and completed safe driving courses as part of his sentence, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney confirmed. Greer’s license has been suspended since that crash, according to the DMV.

He was later accused of stealing car batteries from an Advance Auto Parts in Westchester County and crashing into multiple cars while driving the wrong way on Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx. Greer has pleaded not guilty to those charges. His attorney declined comment.

Steve Vaccaro, a lawyer who frequently represents pedestrians and cyclists injured in crashes, argued that Greer is a “product of our system” that he said allows dangerous driving to go unchecked. New York City traffic deaths have spiked since the pandemic, with 275 fatalities in 2021. City data shows there have been 109 traffic deaths so far this year.

“We find ourselves on track for the deadliest year for pedestrians and cyclists in a decade," City Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement to Gothamist. "Allowing reckless drivers to get away with nothing more than a small fine endangers the lives of New Yorkers."

Last year, Lander released a report that found reckless driving was the main cause of fatal crashes and called for harsher laws to punish dangerous drivers. He suggested authorizing the city to seize the vehicles of drivers who violate local laws outside the city's borders and to suspend registrations for cars that receive many traffic camera violations.

Vaccaro said Greer’s record highlighted how dangerous drivers often get off easy.

“This is somebody who should definitely be kept off the road,” he said. “Perhaps [he] requires a sentence including incarceration, in my opinion, because this individual can’t stop going out into traffic and doing things likely to cause substantial, serious harm to people.”

The March 2022 crash occurred during a flash mob-style meetup for car enthusiasts at Greenwich and Vandam streets in Manhattan. The bystander, Christopher Brito, lost his balance trying to film the car as it did donuts dangerously close to the crowd. Brito was run over and left with a fractured skull, swelling to the brain and several broken bones, according to a criminal complaint. Efforts to reach Brito were unsuccessful.

As part of his guilty plea, Greer completed a state-run “choices and consequences” program focused on dangerous driving. That case was closed in May 2023.

But by then, Greer had stolen eight Optima car batteries from an Advance Auto Parts in New Rochelle with another person, prosecutors said. Greer pleaded not guilty to grand larceny over the allegedly stolen batteries, which were worth a total of $2,400. The case is still pending.

This past April, according to prosecutors, Greer drove a 2008 black Toyota through several red lights against traffic on Bruckner Boulevard, crashing into more than one car. The Toyota had no license plate, the NYPD said. Greer pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Vaccaro, the attorney for people injured in crashes, argued that driving needs to be more tightly regulated.

“Certainly, those of us who live in parts of the country where firearms are tightly regulated, like the Northeast, the most dangerous instrument that comes into our hands typically is going to be a motor vehicle," he said. "And people treat it as if it were like a toaster in their kitchen."