Williamsburg Bridge Crash: SUV Driver Charged With Driving Without A License

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The SUV driver involved in a fatal motorcycle accident on the Williamsburg Bridge Thursday morning now faces charges for driving without a license, court records show.

Germain Palacios was riding toward Brooklyn when he ricocheted off the bridge’s barrier and skidded into the path of Mark Medina’s Jeep Grand Cherokee around 3:30 a.m., according to police and reports.

Palacios, whom the Daily News reported might have been racing with another cyclist, was rushed to Woodhull Hospital where he later died, said police.

Medina, 24, was arraigned in New York Criminal Court for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and released without bail, court records show.

Medina’s father, David Ortiz, 53, arrived at the scene of the crime and told the Daily News his son was not to blame.

“The accident wasn’t his fault,” Ortiz told the Daily News, adding that Medina had seen Palacios and another biker performing dangerous stunts on the bridge. “Police told me ‘He’s in the clear.'”

Photo courtesy of Kevin Gilmour/Flickr