A retired New Jersey firefighter wearing a kilt was charged with driving while intoxicated after a bizarre, fatal hit-and-run accident in which the victim was run over by car after car, cops said.
Jagdish Advani, 51, of Charlotte, Vt., was first run over by a dark-colored sedan at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 41st Street in Manhattan at about 2 a.m. yesterday, cops said. That car kept going after the crash, and fled the scene.
Then Advani was hit by a second car, an SUV driven by Donald Kozlowski, 52, of Elizabeth, N.J., said cops.
Kozlowski – who was wearing a ceremonial kilt at the time of the accident – stayed at the scene and submitted to a police sobriety breath test.
Police sources later said Kozlowski’s blood-alcohol level was .083, only a few thousandths of a percent over the legal limit.
Advani was pronounced dead at St. Vincent’s Hospital at 3:26 p.m. yesterday.
Neighbors said Kozlowski is an avid hunter who retired about two years ago from the Elizabeth Fire Department.
“He’s respectful and considerate,” said Elvira Isaza. “He’s a good neighbor.”
Kozlowski, who is divorced, often wears a kilt to functions involving a U.S. Marine Corps band in which he plays bagpipes, the neighbors said.
Nobody who lives near his three-story Victorian-style single-family house knew him to be a heavy drinker. Kozlowski has lived there for around 20 years, they said.
Kozlowski was being held by police yesterday, awaiting arraignment.
Police are still looking for the hit-and-run vehicle that initially hit Advani.
This year has been a bad one for firefighters when it comes to mixing booze and autos. More than 30 New York City firefighters have been charged with driving under the influence so far this year.
During all 2003, only 27 firefighters were arrested on DWI charges. But early last month, the number of alleged drunk-driving firefighters hit 33.
In May, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta called for a blue-ribbon panel to probe the rash of tipsy driving firefighters.
In August he vowed to crack down on fire commanders who look the other way when firefighters booze it up and have sexual flings inside firehouses.
The FDNY has also been involved in other alcohol-related incidents, including last New Year’s Eve’s drunken brawl in which one smoke-eater bashed another in the head with a chair during a fight at a Staten Island firehouse.