Off-Duty Cop, Firefighter Arrested for Drunk Driving in Ditmas Park Over Holiday Weekend

DITMAS PARK, BROOKLYN — Two off-duty city employees were arrested in two separate drunk driving incidents in Ditmas Park over the Thanksgiving weekend.

At around 5:30 A.M. Friday morning, police arrested FDNY Emergency Medical Technician Oneil Hunter, 35, after he swerved into a lane of traffic at Flatbush Avenue and Caton Avenue, police said. When the officers spoke with Hunter, they noticed his eyes were red and he was speaking unclearly. Officers also found a bottle of Hennesy behind Hunter's seat, police said. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired and two counts of failure to signal.

Then at about 6 A.M. Sunday morning, an NYPD School Safety Agent was arrested on Church Avenue and Coney Island Avenue. Quintina Escobar-Balmir, 26, ran a red light and nearly collided with a police car, police said. Escobar-Balmir was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired.

The arrests were first reported by Ditmas Park Corner.

In recent months, residents in nearby Windsor Terrace have voiced safety concerns over through traffic. An online petition called for a crossing guard at the intersection of Caton Avenue and Ocean Parkway was started in Sept. and received over 300 signatures.

Community Board 7 rejected a proposal from the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) that called to transform Seeley Street into a one-way pathway that would run west from Prospect Park to Green-Wood Cemetery. It was a controversial plan that brought many community members to the Nov. 17 meeting. A majority of residents thought that eliminating two-way traffic would encourage more speeding.

In Nov. 2014, 14-year-old Mohammad Uddin was killed in a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of E. 7th Street and Caton Avenue.

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