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    NYC driver who killed 71-year-old granny in car chase with cops caught after two months on run: police

    By Amanda Woods,

    5 hours ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2E140S_0uayt2o300

    A driver who killed a 71-year-old granny and injured her daughter in a car chase with cops was busted this week – after two months on the run, police said Tuesday.

    Robert Matthews, 35, was picked up on a warrant Monday morning and faces a total of 18 raps — including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and felony assault– in connection to the May 9 crash in Bushwick that killed Juanita Vidal, cops said.

    Vidal was walking with her 44-year-old daughter Jessica around 5 p.m. at Eldert Street and Knickerbocker Avenue when Matthews’ speeding Mazda CX-5 SUV plowed into her, authorities said.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3iZh3i_0uayt2o300
    Robert Matthews, 26, was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and felony assault in the May 9 crash that killed Juanita Vidal, 71, cops said. David Burns/FD4D

    Heartbreaking footage from the scene shows Jessica kneeling beside her mother at the scene and weeping as a cop futilely administers CPR.

    Vidal was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center but later died from her injuries, cops said.

    Red Camaro flips SUV in wild hit-and-run crash video

    Jessica was taken to the Elmhurst Hospital Center, where she was listed in critical but stable condition.

    Surveillance footage obtained by The Post shows the SUV — which sources say cops were pursuing for a traffic infraction — speeding east on Eldert Street through the intersection and nearly hitting a red car traveling on Knickerbocker Street as a police car trails behind.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2XfpBD_0uayt2o300
    Matthews was arrested on a warrant and ordered held without bail during his arraignment. Obtained by NY Post

    Cops confirmed that the driver disobeyed two stop signs and swerved to the left to avoid slamming into another car before barreling into the mother and daughter.

    Two pedestrians struck by out-of-control scooter that jumped curb near Macy’s in Herald Square, one in critical

    He then hit a Chevy van, with the force pushing the van into a Honda, police said.

    Matthews ran off on foot, heading north on Eldert Street, cops said.

    He was arraigned on an indictment in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday, and ordered held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 18.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=210AbB_0uayt2o300
    Vidal was a mother of three and grandmother of at least 10. Paul Martinka

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    Friends previously told The Post that Vidal had three children in New York and more in her native Puerto Rico, as well as Boston.

    She had at least 10 grandchildren — four from her daughter and six between her two sons.

    “I feel bad. Everybody is sad,” friend George Alvarez, 65, said.

    “When I saw the video, the way [the suspect] was driving, he was a maniac. At the speed he was going, the daughter is lucky to be alive.”

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2cnPA5_0uayt2o300
    The driver disobeyed two stop signs and swerved to the left to avoid striking another car before hitting the mother and daughter. Obtained by NY Post

    “She was a healthy woman,” Alvarez added of Vidal. “He cut her life short, and I’m angry because she was my friend.”

    Additional reporting by Desheania Andrews

    For the latest metro stories, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/metro/

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