Teen driver charged after killing three in 2020 crash while doing ‘doughnuts’ at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn: D.A.
A young driver who killed two teenagers and an 11-year-old boy in a gruesome 2020 crash at Floyd Bennett Field now faces criminally negligent homicide charges, police said Wednesday.
Tamirlan Abylkhnov was 16 years old on July 11, 2020, when he and a group of friends went to the Brooklyn airfield to do “doughnuts” near the North 40 Runway, according to cops.
He was driving a Toyota Camry, with two passengers, was speeding at 70 mph when he t-boned a 2020 Kia Forte. The Kia’s driver, Emil Badalov, 16, and his two passengers — his high school sweetheart, Margarita Sidgiyayeva, 18, and Daniel Sidgiyayeva, 11, died in the wreck.
Abylkhnov, now 18, was indicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday and charged with three counts of criminally negligent homicide, and one count each of assault, unlicensed operator, excessive speed, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
“Three young lives were tragically cut short when this defendant allegedly t-boned the victims’ car as he attempted to do stunts at a high speed,” Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez said Wednesday. “This case highlights the incredible dangers of drag racing, and this kind of recklessness cannot be tolerated in Brooklyn. Our prosecutors will seek to hold them accountable, and my heart continues to be with the families of the victims as they grieve.”
Abylkhnov, who lives in Homecrest, about three-and-a-half miles from Floyd Bennett Field, was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court Wednesday and released on his own recognizance. He could face up to four years behind bars, prosecutors said.
Floyd Bennett Field, which is part of the federal Gateway National Recreation area, had recently re-opened to visitors about a month before the crash, after a COVID-imposed lockdown.
Opened in 1931, it was the city’s first municipal airport, and was sold to the Navy a decade later. Many of the field’s runways have since been converted into roads.
