Overview
- Gary Levinson, 62, was arrested on a grand-jury indictment and charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless driving, then arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court and released on his own recognizance with a court date set for April 8.
- Police say Levinson struck 27-year-old Valerie Schoeck on Nov. 6 as she crossed Morton Street at Seventh Avenue South; she was taken to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead.
- According to the NYPD, Levinson turned left while exiting a Morton Street parking garage and drove against traffic in a rented black GMC Savana when he hit Schoeck in the crosswalk.
- The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad determined Levinson had regularly made the same prohibited wrong-way turn in the past despite posted restrictions.
- Community fundraisers in Schoeck’s honor have collected more than $63,000 for the grief-support nonprofit Our House, which plans a permanent commemoration.