A Georgia resident who stole a box truck and then crashed into a M14 bus a few blocks away, killing the bus driver, was slapped with a slew of charges yesterday. Domonic Whilby, 22, was charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and felony assault.
According to police, a truck was stolen from West 16th Street and was soon crashed into a M14D tandem bus at the corner of West 14th Street and 7th Avenue.The Post reports, "The bus jumped the sidewalk and crashed into a scaffolding, ejecting the driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt. He was dead at the scene."
Domonic Whilby (Facebook)
Whilby had been partying with his uncle, model Tyson Beckford, at model Shanina Shaik's birthday party. According to the Post's sources, "Beckford, his nephew Whilby and the stunning model first had dinner with more than 20 others at the exclusive Butter Midtown restaurant last night before heading to 1 OAK... But Whilby was escorted out from the exclusive nightclub at 3:30 a.m. after getting too friendly with some female fashion week partiers." A source added, "He was bothering other customers. He was getting too ‘handsy’ with other women, acting inappropriately."
So he apparently went to the Maritime Hotel or the Dream Downtown Hotel and passed out. The Daily News reports:
Whilby then became aggravated when he couldn’t find a limousine that he expected to take him home. The super at two W. 16th St. apartment buildings told The News that Whilby started randomly pounding on the doors in the middle of the night.
“He was sweating like a mad dog,” said Victor Vega, who turned over surveillance video to police. “He had to be high on drugs. He started kicking and banging the doors.” According to Vega, cops told him that the truck was making an early morning delivery when Whilby jumped inside and sped away.
A police officer at the scene told us the box truck, which was used by 18 Rabbits Granola, ran a red light when it hit the bus.
The bus driver, William Pena, 50, was a 17-year-old veteran of the MTA. He was working to put his 17-year-old daughter through college, relatives said. TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said, "This is a terrible tragedy. This is incredibly dangerous work and this exemplifies the dangers workers face day in and day out."
Four other people were injured—a coffee vendor who was badly burned, a pedestrian, a bus passenger, and a person on a scooter.
