A 35-year-old Brooklyn man who was behind the wheel of a souped-up pickup truck that struck and killed an Upper East Side man nearly one year ago has been arrested and charged in connection with the senior citizen’s untimely death, police say.
Police say Joshua Seals was the driving the black 2007 Toyota Tacoma that ran into 66-year-old William Maeder at the intersection of East 77th Street and First Avenue on the UES back on May 3, 2022.
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Investigators say Seals was making a left turn onto 77th Street from First Avenue when his hulking black pickup truck slammed into the Upper East Side resident.
Maeder, who lived on East 72nd Street, just a few blocks away from the scene of deadly collision, was carrying groceries when he was hit, which were thrown into the street during the violent crash. His reusable green shopping bag and the salmon steak he had just purchased laid underneath the Toyota.
After initially surviving the violent collision, police say Maeder succumbed to the traumatic blunt-force injuries to his face and body the next day.
A review of New York City traffic summons data by Upper East Site found that Seals’ pickup truck had a history of receiving tickets from automated enforcement cameras for dangerous driving around Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
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Prior to the deadly crash last May, the black Toyota Tacoma Seals was driving had received 14 citations for speeding in a school zone beginning in the summer of 2019.
Since then, the truck has racked up three additional school zone speeding violations, including the most recent, which occurred in February on Astoria Boulevard near PS 084 Steinway School.
Joshua Seals is now charged with Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian Resulting in Injury, a misdemeanor, and Failure to Exercise Due Care, a traffic violation.
