Man dragged 2 blocks under van after Brooklyn road rage dispute
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police say a road rage dispute ended with a man dragged to his death by a van while his wife watched in horror in Brooklyn Thursday night.
According to investigators, 65-year-old Gavriel Mardaknayevy initially got into an argument with the driver of the van, 55-year-old David Cruz, after a fender bender in Sunset Park.
The van driver drove off and was followed by Mardaknayevy, who was a passenger in his wife's car.
The dispute resumed in the intersection of Third Avenue and 65th Street, where the man's wife stopped her car and Mardaknayevy got out to confront the van driver.
Police say Cruz took off, and Mardaknayevy became caught under his vehicle.
He was dragged two blocks to Third Avenue and 67th Street, where good Samaritan Michael Othman -- who witnessed the entire incident -- blocked the van's path with his blue minivan.
"She just seen her husband right in front of her," Othman said. "The guy just hit him and dragged him in front of the wife."
Firefighters and others lifted the van and pulled Mardaknayevy out from under the vehicle. He was rushed to Lutheran Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
"She was going crazy," Othman said. "I held her up on the side, got her water. It was sad. Very sad."
Cruz was taken into custody at the scene.
"Within the two blocks, I tried to stop him two times," Othman said. "The last one I stopped him right here, took him out of the car, grabbed him, put him up against the wall. I told him, 'Don't move. Are you crazy? You have a dead body under the (van).' He didn't know what he was doing."
Cruz is now facing a charge of second degree murder.
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