Hit-And-Run Driver Who Mowed Down Williamsburg Cyclist Gets 15 Years, Prosecutors Say

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The hit-and-run driver who fatally mowed down Matthew von Ohlen in a Williamsburg bike lane last summer has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, according to prosecutors

Juan Maldonado, 57, was found guilty in September of slamming into the 35-year-old cyclist when he swerved his black Chevy Camaro into the painted bike lane on Grand Street near Manhattan Avenue on July 2, 2016, prosecutors said.

“That night, we lost our only child,” the cyclist’s parents, Joan and Bernt von Ohlen, said in a statement.

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Maldonado rammed into von Ohlen, then drove over his body and dragging him almost 30 feet in his attempt to flee, prosecutors said.

Von Ohlen, a Minneapolis native, later died from his injuries in Bellevue hospital, said prosecutors. Maldonado was convicted of reckless manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Von Ohlen’s parents responded to the sentencing with demands that the city install a protected bike lane across the five boroughs.

“Proper investment in street designs that truly protect cyclists, like a protected bike lane on Grand Street, could have saved our son’s life,” the couple said.

The von Ohlens pleaded for city officials to accelerate plans for a protected bike lane on Grand Street “before any other lives are lost.”

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