New City man, guilty in fatal crash, tries to flee US: cops
A New City man convicted on a negligent homicide charge after a fatal motorcycle crash was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on Saturday by Westchester County Police detectives, who say he was attempting to flee the country.
Clifford Perkins, 27, failed to appear in court Aug. 3 for sentencing on a charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Perkins was charged in April 2015 in the May 25, 2014, motorcycle crash on the Sprain Brook Parkway that killed Scott Phillips, 45, of West New York, New Jersey. Phillips was known professionally as DJ Father Shaheed of the New Jersey hip hop collective Poor Righteous Teachers. Shaheed was a producer with the group.
Witnesses in the 2014 crash told New York State Police investigators that a dozen or so motorcycles were traveling at up to 100 mph south on the Sprain Brook near Interstate 287 that day. Perkins' motorcycle struck the rear bumper of a car driven by a 29-year-old Mamaroneck man. That car then hit the motorcycle operated by Phillips.
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Police said Perkins was driving his motorcycle at between 82 mph and 95 mph when he struck the car.
In April 2015, Perkins was indicted on a felony count of criminally negligent homicide. He also faced misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, reckless endangerment, aggravated unlicensed operation, and traffic violations.
He was expected to be sentenced earlier this month, but failed to appear. Westchester County Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary issued an arrest warrant for Perkins, and the Warrant-Fugitive Unit began searching for him.
According to Kieran O’Leary of the Westchester County Police, the fugitive unit — with help from Port Authority police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents — determined that Perkins was planning to fly to Florida on Saturday morning, then take a connecting flight to Jamaica. Officers took Perkins into custody when he arrived at the airport about 6 a.m. Saturday.
Perkins is being held at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla and is schedule to appear in Westchester County Supreme Court on Monday.