A retired city correction officer has been indicted on charges he fled the scene after mowing down a pedestrian on a Brooklyn street in May.
Raymond Campbell, 65, of Brooklyn, surrendered himself to face charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident Monday, almost two months after the May 17 crash.
Cops say Campbell was headed west in a burgundy Ford Explorer on Fulton St. in Clinton Hill at about 12:20 a.m. when he struck Frederick Solomon, 55, as he crossed Washington St.
Campbell drove off, and medics took Solomon to New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved.
Police tracked Campbell to his second home in Pennsylvania to interview him the next day. His vehicle is registered in Pennsylvania, Assistant D.A. James Hamilton said.
Campbell was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday, where Judge Kim Petersen set his bail at $15,000 cash or $25,000 bond.
“The defendant could have stopped, he could have stayed at the scene, and he left the scene,” Hamilton told the judge, adding that prosecutors have “extremely strong evidence in the case” — witnesses, video and a confession.
Video reviewed by the Daily News shows the victim limping slowly across the street. He almost reached the other side when what appears to be a burgundy SUV traveling at a high speed relative to other cars rammed into him without stopping, sweeping the man forward so suddenly, it looked like he disappeared from the frame.
Campbell’s lawyer, Sam Getz, said his client wasn’t a flight risk, pointing to his work history, his lack of a criminal record, and his wife and three children as ties to the community.
Campbell knew an arrest was coming, and agreed to surrender, Getz said. “He knew he was being charged. He didn’t go to Pennsylvania, he didn’t flee.”
The judge said bail was appropriate because he also has ties to Pennsylvania.
Campbell returns to court Aug. 11.
Campbell told the judge he expects to make bail, but he and his lawyer asked the judge that he be placed in protective custody because of his job should he wind up on Rikers Island.
“For my safety,” Campbell said.
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