Police say former NYPD commissioner Howard Safir hit woman with his SUV, then drove off

Police: Ex NYPD commissioner hit woman, drove off

NEW YORK — A former New York City police commissioner has been accused of backing his SUV into a pregnant woman, then driving away.

Police say Howard Safir bumped the woman with his Cadillac Friday afternoon in Manhattan.

She was treated for a bruised shoulder, but wasn’t seriously hurt.

Police detectives decided not to press charges.

They say Safir didn’t know he’d hit someone.

The victim tells a different story.

Joanne Valarezo tells The New York Times that both she and a passenger in the SUV yelled at the driver for being careless before he drove away.

She says she didn’t know who he was until informed by a reporter.

Safir was police commissioner from 1996 to 2000.

Calls to his homes in New York and Maryland weren’t immediately returned.

Information from: The New York Times, www.nytimes.com