A Brooklyn man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of throwing a high-explosive firework into a Verizon delivery truck during a DUI incident earlier this year, authorities said.
Kevindale Nurse, 36, was driving an unregistered minivan with his 4-year-old son in the vehicle around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 when he pulled in front of the Verizon delivery truck, a news release said. Two Verizon repair technicians were traveling in that vehicle at the time to work on high-speed data lines and fiber optic equipment.
The nurse’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to federal prosecutors, surveillance footage showed Nurse driving “erratically” before stopping next to the Verizon delivery truck at the corner of President Street and Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights.
Nurse then threw the explosive device through the driver’s side window of the Verizon van. A bright explosion occurred inside the van, sending it drifting into the busy intersection, prosecutors said.
Verizon repair technicians were injured and the delivery truck was “significantly damaged,” prosecutors said.
“If the equipment had caught fire or exploded, the consequences could have been tragic,” prosecutors wrote in the press release.
“Unfortunately, road rage is an all too common phenomenon in our communities,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in the press release. “But this dangerous and senseless attack at a busy intersection in the heart of Brooklyn went too far. We will pursue this case vigorously.”
Authorities have not explained why Nurse had a powerful firework in his car. If convicted, prosecutors say he faces a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
