Former jockey dies, tow truck driver arrested after parking dispute at Brooklyn gas station
BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A tow truck driver was arraigned on an assault charge Monday after police say he punched a man attempting to climb into his truck to prevent his car from being impounded, leading to his death.
Police identified the tow truck driver as 30-year-old Kevon Johnson. They say he threw a punch that would claim the life of 61-year-old Carlyle Thomas, a former horse racing jockey.
It all sparked from a parking dispute at a Clarkson Avenue gas station on Saturday night.
Surveillance video captured the victim as he tried to stop the flatbed truck driver from towing his minivan from the gas station.
Thomas opened the driver's side door and just moments later, turned around and saw the tow truck driver who would punch him so hard, that police say he fell and hit his head on the concrete pavement.
Thomas lived next door and family members say he had an arrangement with the owner of the gas station, allowing him to park there for just $10 if he couldn't find parking.
The victim's fiancée, Andrea Gooden, says the owner had Thomas' number and could have called him if he needed to move the car, but for some reason called a tow truck, and that is when the deadly argument unfolded right in front of the gas pumps.
Gooden says she blames the gas station owner just as much as the tow truck driver for the death of the man she loved.
"He said, 'I was mad with him, so I called the tow truck.' So you're mad with him and he loses his life?" Gooden said.,
She says she spoke with the owner and doesn't understand why he couldn't have made a simple phone call to have him move the car or pay up.
"He could have called him. He had his number. He could have called me because he called him at 2:00 in the morning to come downstairs and help his workers when someone was breaking into his stores. And he'd never tell him no," Gooden adds.
Shell Station worker Imran Aziz said he thought management made a mistake.
"He was a family member in here. I'll be honest. Whenever somebody tried to steal something in here, he was the kind of guy who'd grab stuff and bring it back to me. Like I remember my own experiences with him," Aziz said. "Before calling the tow guy, they should have called him. 'Did you pay? No? Are you coming to pay?'"
Somebody did call Thomas, but after the tow truck had arrived. His daughter says the blame lies squarely with the driver who punched him.
The 61-year-old was a horse racing jockey in his younger days in Jamaica, who later worked at the Aqueduct Race Track with horses.
His family says he did not deserve this and they want justice.
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