Scooter Rider Pleads Guilty in Hit

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Brian Boyd, 27, who struck the actress with his electric scooter on a Manhattan street and then sped away, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

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By Liam Stack

The scooter rider who fatally struck the actress Lisa Banes in a hit-and-run accident as she crossed a Manhattan street in June of last year pleaded guilty to crimes related to her death on Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

The man, Brian Boyd, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death without reporting it to the authorities, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., said in a statement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30 and is expected to get one to three years in prison, though prosecutors had sought three to nine years.

Ms. Banes, 65, known for her role in the 2014 film "Gone Girl," was crossing Amsterdam Avenue near West 64th Street last year on June 4 after meeting up with friends when Mr. Boyd drove an unlicensed and unregistered electric moped through a red light and crashed into her, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Mr. Boyd then got back on his vehicle and fled the scene, leaving Ms. Banes critically injured and lying in the street on the Upper West Side.

"Brian Boyd drove recklessly with no regard for pedestrians, fatally striking a beloved actress and New Yorker before speeding off to avoid accountability," Mr. Bragg said in the statement. "Lisa Banes will be remembered for her contributions to the rich fabric of New York City through her roles onscreen and on Broadway."

Ms. Banes was using the crosswalk when she was struck, prosecutors said. She suffered head injuries and died 10 days later at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan.

Mr. Boyd, who lives on the Upper West Side, was arrested on Aug. 4 2021 in the lobby of a building near the site of the crash. The police said officers recognized his face from a wanted poster.

Ms. Banes was a prolific film, theater and television actress who studied at New York's Juilliard School in the 1970s. She rose to prominence in the 1980s with a string of leading Off Broadway roles, including Wendy Kesselman's "My Sister in This House" at Second Stage Theater and Chekhov's "Three Sisters" at Manhattan Theater Club.

She made her Broadway debut in the 1988 Neil Simon comedy "Rumors" and went on to perform in more than 80 television and film productions, including opposite Tom Cruise in the 1988 film "Cocktail" and opposite Ben Affleck in "Gone Girl."

Ms. Banes returned to Broadway in 1995 in Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia," the 1998 production of the Cole Porter musical "High Society" and a 2010 revival of Noël Coward's "Present Laughter."

She lived in Los Angeles and was visiting New York at the time of the crash.

Jonah E. Bromwich contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of the incident that led to Lisa Banes's death. Ms. Banes was struck by a scooter in June 2021, not June of this year.

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Liam Stack is a religion correspondent on the Metro desk, covering New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He was previously a political reporter based in New York and a Middle East correspondent based in Cairo. @liamstack

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