Queens man charged with manslaughter in drunken driving crash that left NYPD officer dead 3 years ago

A Queens man has been charged with manslaughter and drunken driving in connection with a car crash that killed an NYPD officer three years ago, authorities said Tuesday.

Kassun Brown, 31, of Springfield Gardens, allegedly sped through a stop sign and hit the vehicle of Michael Ellis, 31, an NYPD officer from St. Albans, Queens, on Jan. 17, 2020.

Ellis, who worked at the 63rd Precinct in Brooklyn, was taken to a hospital for treatment of traumatic brain injury, a broken neck and facial fractures. He died on Feb. 27, 2020.

“There is nothing more irresponsible and selfish than getting behind the wheel and driving under the influence,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.

“Everyone with whom we share the road deserves our respect and consideration and has every right to reach their destination safely,” she said. “The defendant is alleged to have been driving while intoxicated and will be held to account for the tragic consequences of that decision, the senseless death of an NYPD officer.”

An attorney for Brown, Dennis Coppin of Brooklyn, said, “The facts will come to light and he will be vindicated.”

If convicted, Brown faces up to 7½ to 15 years in prison. Justice Michael Aloise ordered him to return to court on April 26.

Brown was arraigned on an indictment charging him with manslaughter in the second degree, assault in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and failing to stop at a stop sign.

The crash occurred around 11:58 p.m. when Brown was allegedly driving a 2006 Nissan Maxima, the district attorney's office said. He allegedly struck Ellis’ vehicle at the intersection of Nashville Boulevard and Lucas Street in St. Albans.

Video surveillance footage shows Brown’s car was southbound on Nashville Boulevard at “a high rate of speed past a stop sign,” Katz's office said. “The defendant’s car strikes a Nissan sedan traveling westbound on Lucas Street, pushing the victim’s car into a clockwise spin before it hits two parked cars.”

Brown’s car then veered southwest into a telephone pole.

Brown was taken to a hospital for treatment of a dislocated right ankle. A man who was a passenger in Brown’s car also was taken there for treatment of fractured femur.