Former NYPD Officer Gets 15 Years For Fatal Williamsburg Crash

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A former NYPD officer will serve up to 15 years in prison for driving drunk onto a sidewalk and killing a pedestrian, prosecutors said.

30-year-old Nicholas Batka, of Greenpoint, was sentenced Monday for the July 2016 fatal crash after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter and assault last November. Batka had been drinking at The Whiskey Brooklyn with friends when he left around 3 a.m. in his Dodge Durango and jumped the curb and near Bedford Avenue and North 8th Street, hitting four people and killing one.

“This tragic case is another reminder of how dangerous drunk driving is and the terrible toll it can exact," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "This defendant accepted responsibility for his reckless and criminal actions that early morning, which took a promising young man’s life and irreparably harmed three additional victims. I hope this sentence will bring a small measure of solace to the victims and their families.”

Batka had a blood-alcohol level of about .23 when it was measured two hours after the crash, which ended with him crashing through a wrought iron fence into the front of a building at 161 Bedford Avenue.

The pedestrian that was killed, 21-year-old Andrew Esquival, did hours after the crash from blunt force trauma. The other three pedestrians — 20-year-old Sophia Tabchhouri, 20-year-old Divya Menezes and 24-year-old James Balchunas — suffered serious injuries, including fractures to their legs, arms or pelvis.

After completing his sentence, Batka will serve 350 hours of community service with the “Choices and Consequences” program, which educates high school students on the risks and consequences of driving while intoxicated, prosecutors said.

He was a probationary officer assigned to the Manhattan Transit Task Force at the time and was fired by the Police Department a few days after the incident.

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