The Long Island teen accused of driving the wrong-way on the Henry Hudson Parkway and killing a man 24 hours before the victim’s wedding was allegedly drunk and being chased by an off-duty NYPD cop at the time of the crash.
Jimmy Connors had allegedly spent the night drinking at Nebula on West 41st Street, where staff served him alcohol despite him being “visibly intoxicated” in the hours before the horrific Aug. 24 collision, according to a lawsuit.
After Connors, 17, left the club, he allegedly got behind the wheel of a white Chevy Silverado with Ontario plates and crashed into another car — prompting off-duty cop Boubacar Barry, who witnessed the wreck, to pursue him in his personal SUV instead of calling 911, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court filing.
Both vehicles then barreled south in the northbound lanes of the parkway, where the Silverado slammed head-on into a car driven by Kirk Walker and his cousin, Rob McLaurin, authorities said.
Walker, 38, was one day from his wedding when he and McLaurin were killed.
Walker and McLaurin had just left the groom-to-be’s bachelor party and were driving north near West 154th Street in a Dodge Challenger when the 2:20 a.m. crash occurred, said Walker’s fiancée, Shauntea Weaver, who filed the lawsuit this week against Connors, Barry, Nebula, the NYPD and the city.
Connors fled after the wreck, leaving behind his injured 21-year-old passenger. Police said the passenger tried to run but was caught 30 feet away.
Mayor Eric Adams even put up $1,000 of his own money to help catch the suspect.
Connors, of Syosset, was nabbed the next day at the Canadian border, limping, bloodied and without ID. Customs agents identified him using NYPD images that allegedly showed him bolting from the crash.
He was taken back to New York and indicted on charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal crash. He pleaded not guilty.
His attorney Jonathan Perez previously told The Post that Connors is “sick, autistic, has epilepsy” and believes he was manipulated by someone else in the car.
Connors has been held without bail since his arraignment, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.
Walker, a Manhattan father of three and rental-car-business owner, was set to marry Weaver in a lavish New Jersey ceremony.
“Kirk was taken from me just as we were starting our new life together,” Weaver said in a statement released through her attorneys to The Post. “He was the love of my life … We’ve been left trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and come to terms with a future without him in it. Our lives will never be the same.”
Weaver, now the administrator of Walker’s estate, argued in court papers that Barry acted as a cop — not a civilian — making the city and NYPD responsible for the unauthorized chase, which she contends isn’t covered by emergency-response laws.
Nebula also violated the state’s Dram Shop Act, which allows victims to sue bars that serve alcohol to underage or visibly intoxicated patrons who later cause harm, Weaver said in the legal filing.
Weaver is seeking unspecified damages for wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, negligence, emotional and psychological loss, funeral expenses and punitive damages.
The NYPD and Nebula did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office referred questions to the NYPD.
Connors and Barry could not be reached for comment.
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