The alleged driver of a stolen car who crashed in Manhattan during a police chase — injuring seven people — was out on bail on robbery and assault charges at the time of the mayhem, prosecutors said in court Tuesday.
Kyle Fernandez, 20, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with second-degree assault and related raps for the Aug. 1 road rampage in Midtown — as the judge stared him down in Manhattan Supreme Court before warning him to stay out of trouble.
“You now have two indictments before this court,” Justice Althea Drysdale told Fernandez after asking him to pull his black surgical mask down so she could look him full in the face.
“That’s two cases … make sure there isn’t a third [case],” Drysdale said before adding, “Mr. Fernandez, make sure you understand you’re not to come back with a third case, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded to the judge.
Fernandez had posted $7,500 bail on charges of second-degree assault, robbery and criminal mischief for a Jan. 16 incident in Manhattan in which he roughed up a woman — punching her, yanking off her necklaces and smashing her cellphone before cutting her wrist with the cracked screen, according to a criminal complaint.
At his Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment in the car chase case earlier this month, a judge set his bail at $50,000, which Fernandez posted days later. Prosecutors had asked for bail to be set at $100,000.
“Stuff happens, man,” Fernandez mumbled as he walked into court on Tuesday and was asked by The Post why he went on the rampage.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Meaghan Dunigan said during the hearing that Fernandez had displayed “extremely egregious conduct” when he drove up on a sidewalk during evening rush hour while trying to flee a police stop.
Dunigan noted that Fernandez had admitted to being under the influence of drugs when he allegedly sped off in the stolen car, running a red light and turning the wrong way down a one-way street near Grand Central Station, striking a bicyclist.
He then allegedly drove up on the sidewalk at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street, crashing into a vehicle and ramming into multiple pedestrians.
Prosecutors said Fernandez then made a U-turn, hitting more pedestrians, before crashing into a second vehicle, causing his air bags to deploy and finally putting an end to the mayhem.
The chaotic episode left at least seven people injured, including a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old.
One victim’s ankle was broken, while another’s pelvis was fractured, according to the DA’s office. Most victims suffered scrapes and neck and back pain.
“As alleged, this driver injured seven people and put the safety of many other New Yorkers at risk as he recklessly careened throughout Midtown during rush hour,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “I am wishing all the victims in this incident a quick and speedy recovery from their injuries.”
Fernandez is due back in court on Oct. 31.
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory
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